Ryuujin Saga: Fairy Tail's Dragon God
by ZuttoAragi
Summary: After being captured by Madara Naruto activates a seal that ends up destroying his world. Being trained by the Ten-Tails, Ryuujin, Naruto prepares to start cleaning up messes left in different dimensions by the fallout of his seal. His first venture leads him to a strange world of magic, dragons, and fairies. ON INDEFINITE HIATUS
1. Where It All Begins

**Chapter I**

**Hellooo everybody! Yeah...I know. Yet another new story. This is actually a story I wasn't planning on doing for a while, but unfortunately the situation's changed and I need to get it at least started quickly. If the title didn't tip you off this is a crossover between Naruto and Fairy Tail. It also happens to be one of the earliest stories in the Ryuujin Saga. Anyway, I won't be doing much more on it for a while though, since I still need to finish up Final Reign, then Rise of the True Phoenix Dragon Life 2 after that. But I will eventually make it back to this one after all that mess. Now, for the reason I've taken the time to start this now. There is another author named Darkblade Naruto who is planning a story that is eerily similar to plans that my coauthor, Bakuto Masaki, and I made for this story. Now, getting it up this early has less to do with him and more to do with some of the people on FFNet who would no doubt call me a copycat since the premise, and even the title of this story, are similar to his. Well that is pure coincidence and I wanted to get this up now so I could say this and so no one could accuse me of copying him. In fact the only reason I know about this now is thanks to seeker of true anime fan fic informing me of this. Alright, now with that little disclaimer out of the way I think we can get on with the story. If you'll notice, I've altered the introduction some from previous stories, mostly including information that hadn't been decided when I started the other Ryuujin Saga stories but is now part of the series and is known to readers of some of my other stories as well. Anyway, it's time to start the actual story so I hope you guys enjoy it and don't forget to leave reviews on what you think. And actually, just for fun, I think I'll start a poll on my profile. There you guys can decide which story you want me to continue first, Rise of the True Phoenix Dragon Life 2 or Fairy Tail's Dragon God, since I am enjoying writing both and would like to hear what you guys want to see continued most. Okay, _now_ on to the story.**

* * *

The Fourth Great Shinobi World War had been long and bloody, both sides suffered heavy losses, but it was currently at its lowest point. Most of the Allied Shinobi Forces had been completely destroyed when Madara and Obito summoned the Ten-Tails. Even with the power he obtained by absorbing Father, leader of the Seven Sins or Homunculi, Naruto was defeated due to the revived and empowered Madara. A heartbroken and weakened Naruto was easily captured.

The Ten-Tails had reverted to its form as the Gedo Statue. Floating between its outstretched hands was Killer Bee, right before his body fell limply to the ground with Gyuki being absorbed. The last of the Gedo's eight outer eyes opened.

Madara, whose Ten-Tails Sage Mode had retracted and he looked like his normal self, looked down at the pathetic sight of the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki being restrained by Black Zetsu. He then smirked wryly. "Look at you, descendent of Ashura. Even as an immortal Homunculus you are powerless to stop the Eye of the Moon." He then looked at Zetsu and nodded.

The half black, half white being walked forward pulling the blonde's unconscious form behind him. He reared back and tossed him into the air.

Right after he did, several purple, ethereal dragons shot from the Gedo's mouth and enveloped him as Madara and Obito began the absorption process.

The pain of Kurama being slowly sucked out of him was enough to awaken Naruto. He looked around to see the familiar faces of Madara and Obito, standing unaware to his conscious state. Taking advantage of this, he used what little strength he could muster and activated a seal on his left hand that he had created thanks to his Reanimated father.

* * *

_The remainders of the shinobi forces, numbering a mere four hundred, had somehow managed to escape the onslaught by the Ten-Tailed Demon._

_Naruto was sitting on a stump with dull eyes, he had just witnessed Hinata give her life to save him not mere hours after her cousin Neji did the same. To make matters worse, Julia had also used the last of her own Philosopher's Stone's power to keep Naruto's powered. Naruto barely managed to look up as his father, Minato Namikaze, who had been reanimated by Orochimaru, walked over to him with a sympathetic expression._

_Naruto forced a weak smile and then continued to stare at the ground._

_"Hey, Naruto," Minato said, still somehow managing to function with only a single arm, getting his son's attention. "I have an idea."_

_Narrowing his eyes, Naruto moved over slightly so his father could sit._

_Minato nodded and sat down pulling out a scroll. On it was a design similar to the key used to open the Nine-Tails' seal. Naruto looked at in confusion. "What's this?"_

_"It's something I came up with shortly before Obito attacked the village."_

_Naruto raised an eyebrow as his father continued to speak._

_"It was to be a backup plan in case the Nine-Tails, or Kurama as you call it, got out. Unfortunately I wasn't able to finish it before the attack and had to use the Reaper Death Seal instead. Ironically enough, I had enough time inside the Reaper's gut to finish it," he ended with an embarrassed chuckle. His features became a little more sullen when he noticed his son's lack of emotion. He gave another sympathetic smile and said. "Naruto, holding it in like that won't help."_

_Naruto looked away defiantly. "I'm not holding anything in."_

_Minato sighed and pulled his son into a hug. "I'm sorry Naruto, I'm so sorry, for all of this."_

_Hearing the pure unbridled emotion in his father's voice, Naruto couldn't stop and began to just cry into his shirt, returning his hug._

_Shortly after that, they worked on the seal together and finished it. It was a little later that Madara sealed Minato's reanimated body away, sucking out Kurama's dark half in the process, during the last battle, leaving only the two Jinchuriki and less than four hundred shinobi alive._

* * *

Naruto looked at his hand and his eyes started to water. He forced back the tears, clenched his fist, activated the seal and turned the seal on his stomach.

"What the hell is he doing!?" Obito called seeing the blonde's actions.

Kurama's chakra flowed away from his body a little more, before moving slower and slower. Eventually the flow stopped. Then the chakra jerked and it all started flowing into Naruto, causing him to shout in pain as all the chakra of the Ten-Tails flowed into him. All nine Tailed Beasts having been assimilated and the Ten-Tails awakening into its true form, the Ten-Tailed Dragon Ryuujin.

"NO!" Madara bellowed, seeing Ryuujin's chakra flowing into Naruto's body, the eight open eyes and one partially open eye almost immediately snapping shut.

The two remaining Uchihas attempted to stop the flow along with Black Zetsu's help, but it was pointless, the chakra flow couldn't be stopped.

Unfortunately for everyone involved, the seal hadn't taken into account just how much chakra Ryuujin had. When the last of its chakra flowed into Naruto, there was almost immediate recoil when it reacted with Naruto's Philosopher's Stone. This recoil resulted in an astronomic level of energy bursting outward at once.

The burst completely annihilated the Elemental Nations, and the rest of the planet for that matter, along with all the others in that star cluster. It then caused a reaction that no one could have ever expected. The energy burst out so fast and roughly, as the energy of a God Tree would, that the entire universe destabilized before collapsing in on itself.

However, fragments of energy began to spread out, seemingly beyond the bounds of Naruto's universe entirely.

* * *

Acting quickly, Ryuujin transported both itself and Naruto into a pocket dimension.

It took a long time, one hundred human years to be exact, but when Naruto did come to, he realized two things. One, he had a headache unlike anything he could ever imagine, he was fairly certain there was a hole in his head. The second, was a massive black dragon standing in front of him, or floating technically. Most of it was jet black, causing it to visually meld with the inky blackness that comprised that dimension. Its eyes were a deep crimson color, with concentric circles outward, each circle having three tomoe on it. It had a pair of large wings with the tissue lining them being a pale teal color. The same color appeared on the underside of its hands, its lower jaw, its neck, and chest and stomach. The color also appeared on the underside of its tails.

Naruto looked at the tails and his eyes went wide with shock and fear.

**"I see you've not only awakened, but realized who I am,"** the dragon said in a deep, gravelly voice that sounded fittingly demonic.

"You, you're…you're the-" he was cut off by it speaking.

**"Yes. I, am the Ten-tailed Dragon, Ryuujin,"** it said with a mock bow.

"B-but…how?"

**"Simple, right before the backlash of my chakra created a black hole, I transported us to my own pocket dimension. Now, boy, this may shock you, but you've been asleep for over one hundred years."**

Naruto's expression matched his feelings, shock and disbelief. "But how!? I shouldn't be able to live that long!"

Ryuujin huffed, **"_You're_ the one that sealed me inside of you. A side-effect of the sealing method gave you immortality, at least within my dimension. Plus, don't forget you are now a living Philosopher's Stone, a homunculus of sorts. You do know that makes you immortal, right? Now, there is much for us to discuss. I will explain this first, your haphazard seal caused fragments of your world, your universe I suppose, to stretch out into infinity within the omniverse. That's a problem."**

Naruto raised a puzzled eyebrow. "Why's that?"

**"Because you nitwit, your dimension is supposed to, you know, stay _in_ your dimension. Fragments of it going outward into others means they're messing with those dimensions' timelines and prescribed futures. And since you created the problem, we've agreed you should fix it."**

Naruto looked at him puzzled. "We?"

Ryuujin raised a hairless eyebrow. **"Ahh…I should probably introduce you to him. Though considering you used human transmutation to try and save that buxom girl before you've already met him. Even if you didn't know it."**

"Buxom…oh…you mean...Hinata!? What's with you?!"

Ryuujin adopted a goofy smile. **"C'mon kid, even I can't ignore a nice pair of boobies."**

Naruto gaped. "You mean to tell me the most powerful being in existence is a massive pervert?! Just like Pervy-Sage!"

Ryuujin guffawed in response. **"Yes, yes! Although that novice pales in comparison to my perverted wit."**

Naruto just grumbled. "Whatever…anyway, who's this 'him' I'm supposed to meet?"

**"That'd be me…"** an echoing, almost child-sounding voice retorted.

Naruto looked around in shock. "W-who said that?!"

**"Over here."**

Naruto turned and watched as a single point of light behind him expanded, and then formed into an incomplete, humanoid shape with no facial features beyond a grinning mouth filled with blunt teeth. "Who…are you?"

The grinning being widened its smile. **"You can call me whatever you want. Ishvala, Creator, Overseer…God. But I prefer one name above all others. Truth."**

Naruto's eyes widened in shock. "Then…that means…that you're…?"

Truth nodded. **"Yes. I am the being that dwarf so foolishly tried to control, becoming a false 'god' of his own. It's good to see you finally shut him up inside that heart of yours. You know…unlike him…since you understand the truth of the world…and the right answer, you might be able to control my power for a little while."**

Naruto clenched his fists as he trembled. "If…if you're really God…then…then I want them back!"

Truth frowned in confusion. **"You mean your friends and family? Sorry, I can't do that."**

"Why the hell not?!"

**"Because. Their souls have been scattered to the other dimensions. And a certain someone has cut me off from all dimensions but this one Ryuujin and I reside in. So I can't bring them back without having their souls. Which is part of the reason you're going to help us."**

Naruto narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "And why should I do that?"

Ryuujin sighed heavily. **"I already told you. You're the one that created this problem, so you need to fix it."**

Naruto's eyes widened in rage. "I didn't cause this! They did!"

Truth shook its head. **"Tsk, tsk, tsk. They may have set the pieces in motion that led up to the action you took, but you're the one that took that action. If you hadn't done that, then this wouldn't have happened."**

"What was I supposed to do!? Let them win?! Let them seal the world in that genjutsu?! I…I didn't want this…I didn't want any of this to happen…" Naruto suddenly began trembling before falling to his knees. Tears then began flowing from his eyes. "I…just wanted to be happy with them. I didn't want to cause this." He looked behind him as he felt a light tap on his back. He looked up at Ryuujin.

**"They may have died in your universe, but their souls have spread out. So if you go to some other universe, you may find them alive there."**

Naruto's eyes widened. "Seriously?!" He stood up in anticipation.

**"Calm down, calm down," **Truth hushed. **"There's no guarantee of that. Or that you'll go to the universe they're alive in while they're alive. However, it's time we explain why I can't do this myself, since I know you're curious."**

Naruto nodded in agreement.

**"Simple. There used to be only one universe. One infinitely massive, infinitely expansive universe with a near infinite number of God Trees within it. Each Tree controlled a region of space with its influence. While each one was in itself a sentient, separate, living being like Ryuujin here, they were also like my limbs. Through them I expressed control and influence over the world. However, I mostly enjoyed watching the creatures within each area as they did their thing, I found how they tried to take control of each other, or lands, or even flimsy things like ideologies greatly amusing. Unfortunately this proved to be a problem when an anomaly I hadn't predicted showed up. The Einst."**

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Einst? What's that?"

**"A race of mechanical, and somehow organic, aliens who, for some unknown reason, are able to exert control over the God Trees. They then did something I never expected. They somehow activated all of the God Trees at once and separated all the areas of space from one another into separate pockets, or universes as you would call them."**

Naruto sat down with a perplexed look. "Why'd they do that?"

Ryuujin shrugged in response. **"Beats the hell outta me."**

Truth nodded and then added. **"Although I think it has something to do with the goals of their leader, Neue. He seems to believe himself to be judge, jury, and executioner for the cosmos. He thinks that the prescribed path for a universe, its timeline that I generate based on what I think will happen in the future, is absolute. And any alterations in that flow must be corrected."**

Naruto raised an eyebrow and scratched his head. "I'm really not following here."

Ryuujin waved at Truth. **"He's an imbecile, so speak in easy words."**

"Hey! I can hear you!"

Ryuujin just stuck his tongue out.

Naruto growled.

Truth snickered in amusement. **"Right, right. How about this? I'll explain it to him properly then you can use baby words."**

"Hey!"

Ryuujin nodded in agreement. **"Sounds good to me."**

"Heeyy!"

Truth just ignored him as it continued. **"Anyway, Neue thinks the only way to correct the 'mistakes' is to eradicate all life in that universe so it will start from scratch. If you can imagine, that's a horribly inefficient method, so I want him stopped. But I'll need your help to do it."**

"Why me?"

Truth grinned widely. **"Because…you have a God Tree inside of you." **It pointed to Ryuujin. **"Thanks to that you can access the other God Trees and return them to my control, so I can kick Neue's forces out of those universes. And you also need to find each fragment of your world that's causing trouble, since not all people from your world would be content to just go along with that universe's guidelines and laws, and would cause havoc. If that fragment is one of the trouble causers, it's your duty to get rid of it. If you don't mind."**

Naruto sighed heavily as he took everything in. "So let me get this straight, this creepy Neue guy split the universe into multiple universes, is killing everything in each universe, and you want me to unseparate each universe so you can kick their butts. And you want me to find bad guys from my world and kick their butts?"

Truth looked at Naruto dumbly for a moment before laughing loudly. **"I never thought I'd hear an explanation that is simultaneously pants-on-head retarded and absolutely correct on the same time!"**

"Hey! I'm not a retard!"

Truth just grinned. **"At any rate, yes. That's a simplified version of what I'd like you to do."**

Naruto nodded. "Can I see my friends and family after that?"

Truth folded its arms in thought. **"How about this: you take care of this job for me and I'll do what I can about bringing back the people you care about. The more universes you return to me the more people I'll be able to save."**

Naruto just grinned. "Sounds good to me faceless guy!"

Truth chuckled. **"Good to hear."** It then turned to Ryuujin. **"Now it's your turn."**

Ryuujin looked at Truth puzzled. **"Oh. My turn?"**

**"Yes. Somebody needs to train this dolt to take on the Einst. After all, your Spirits aren't exactly capable anymore."**

Ryuujin narrowed his eyes pained. He then sighed heavily. **"Alright, if the kid agrees I'll train him."**

"Yippee! New jutsu!"

Truth smirked and motioned a hand at the blonde.

Ryuujin grumbled. **"Seriously? I almost get out of that accursed statue…and I don't even get to see tits but this little tit? Whatever…Naruto."**

The blonde ignored him.

**"Naruto."**

And again.

**"Naruto!"**

Naruto froze and looked up at Ryuujin. "Yeah…what?"

**"If I'm going to help you do this then we'll need to get started training immediately. For now Truth will leave, then he'll contact me when he finds a suitable universe for us to go. So for the centuries we have in between I will train you with the accumulated knowledge of my progeny which they ascertained over their admittedly short lives."**

"Progeny? Wait! You mean Kurama and the others!?"

Ryuujin nodded, his red eyes staring at Naruto.

"Then! Then, what happened to them!?" he shouted in fear.

**"The seal resulted in their minds being melded with my own, returning to my original consciousness, albeit added to by their memories and emotions."**

"But," Naruto said defeat starting to claim his mind, "But…but I had just become friends with Kurama," he said, tears edging at his eyes.

Ryuujin sighed and brought a clawed finger towards Naruto, a single claw being the same size as the boy himself, pointing to his heart. **"Kurama still exists within you, and by proxy me. One of the abilities you will gain is to be able to summon each of my progeny for short periods with their personalities intact. But that is for later. We will begin your training now. And since you are immortal, your body will not tire, get hungry or thirsty, nor need periods of rest."**

"These other worlds you'll send me to, will anyone I know be there?" Naruto asked as a greyish blue floor-like surface appeared below them.

Ryuujin crossed its arms in thought and rubbed its chin with one of its tails. After a moment of thinking, it cracked an eye at Naruto and said, **"Doubtful. But, you will find others there to form bonds with. But considering the effects of my surging chakra, your Philosopher's Stone, and your seal it's not unreasonable that some of the sterner of your peers may have survived. Though it is unlikely that any of those who are your friends live. Who knows, maybe Truth wasn't just talking out his ass and is right."**

With a downcast expression, Naruto nodded slowly and prepared to train with Ryuujin.

* * *

Ryuujin's training was rather tough and extensive. Under Ryuujin's tutelage, Naruto learned he would eventually train in all five chakra natures, medical ninjutsu, taijutsu, genjutsu, weapon techniques, and even be able to master the seemingly unlearnable Kekkei Genkai abilities like Ice Style and Wood Style. Although learning how to use much of that would wait for a later period of time. Naruto still needed to master alchemy along with the abilities of the Seven Sins, the seven homunculi produced by Father.

Mentioning them brought a visible shadow to Naruto's face, remembering his feelings for Lust.

Forcing those thoughts from his mind he trained with Ryuujin for the next two hundred years.

After that two hundred years Naruto was dropped into a different world, one he was unfamiliar with, where he would spend ten years within it.

Ryuujin explained it was connected to a different world he would visit at a later date but that wasn't important.

* * *

He trained for another thirty years before Ryuujin suddenly stopped.

Ryuujin, who had assumed a humanoid form to better train Naruto which looked like a man with long black hair with Ryugan eyes with black lines extending down his face from his eyes, his head was adorned in a two piece helmet resembling the head of a humanoid dragon with three eyes made of red crystal and three horns on the top, his torso was covered in armor resembling a black ribcage with maroon tissue underneath with a large Ryugan eye in the middle of his torso, his shoulders had large pauldrons with a row of teeth at the bottom with a large Ryugan covering the majority with ringed armor on his upper arms and his forearms covered in gauntlets that resembled reptilian dragon heads with two empty eye sockets, a row of plate like skirt armor covered his waist with his legs adorned in the same ringed armor as his upper arms with a Ryugan on each of his pointed knee armor and another set on the ends of his boots which resembled a skull with a wide open mouth, looked up and then smirked underneath his mask.

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "What's up?"

Ryuujin pointed up. "Looks like Truth finally has somewhere for you to go."

Naruto smiled widely. "'Bout time! Right, so what's this place called?"

"Earth Land. Bye bye."

Naruto blinked in confusion. "Whaddya mean bye by-AAAHHH!"

Ryuujin snickered to himself as Naruto fell through a hole that suddenly formed in the floor. "If each new world is introduced like this I could become amused by this."

* * *

"GGGAAAGGGHHH!" Naruto bellowed as he fell from a hole in the sky.

He saw only an expanse of clouds below him, which were speeding up and then past him quickly.

His eyes then widened when he passed the clouds and saw the land below.

A mass, lush, forested area of land which from his aerial view Naruto could tell was a peninsula, despite the ocean being far off.

"Whoa…this is…somethin' else."

**'_Heh, heh, thought you'd like it. Looks like home, don't it?_'**

Naruto smiled nostalgically. "Yeah…though that does leave one problem…wait…HOW ARE YOU TALKING INSIDE MY HEAD!?"

**'_We have a mental link, remember? You could speak like this to Kurama. A suggestion though, once you're among people just think what you want to say to me. That way you won't look like a mad person. And as for your little problem, you're a homunculus. The landing is undoubtedly going to hurt like hell but you'll live._'**

'_THAT'S NO EXCUSE!_'

**'_See there, you've already got it._'**

Naruto just growled until he noticed something on the ground below.

He saw what looked like a giant alligator fighting a person. The main thing he noticed was the alligator thing's giant horn. He could also tell from up in the sky that it wasn't normal as the twisted purple energy sparked on its body.

The second thing he noticed was it shooting blasts of that energy at the person, someone clad in silver armor, and that person seemed to be losing.

Naruto grit his teeth. '_Oy, dragon. Can I redirect my fall?_'

**'_Of course. Just try to shot blasts of fire from your hands._'**

'_I can do that?_'

**'_Well…not yet. Though if you're really desperate you could just try leaning._'**

Naruto's expression flattened. '_You. Suck._'

**'_But I do it so well._'**

Naruto just sighed and decided to take the comical approach of trying to swim through the air.

Which seemed to do the trick as Naruto suddenly slammed into the back of the giant alligator at meteoric speeds, causing boulders, stones, and dust to fly in every direction, a woman shouting as the shockwave slammed her against a rock wall.

"Oww…I really need to learn how to control my fall," Naruto moaned as he stood up. He then looked to the side as he heard a deep growl. "Eh…?"

The giant alligator, which he now realized was not much smaller than a Tailed Beast, glared at him angrily.

"Oh boy…"

"Move out of the way!" a voice shouted.

"Huh?" Naruto ducked as suddenly someone dove overtop of him, practically flying, and slashed at the monster repeatedly before landing next to him. His eyes widened when he got a good look at the person the monster was fighting the whole time.

A beautiful, albeit dirtied and battered, young woman with long, scarlet red hair that reached her waist and brown eyes who was wearing armor that seemed to have almost every piece made of a silvery metal with only a small breastplate that was composed of feather-shaped plates that pointed upwards, which barely covered her rather large bust, with a large metal flower on the front that extended to her hips along her sides, her biceps being covered with metal straps, along with very large plated gauntlets which had feather-shaped plates at the edges, her waist was encircled by large, decorative plates reminiscent of feathers that formed a long skirt, as well as a pair of plated boots which were partially hidden by her skirt, each having small, ornamental wings, a neck guard made of feather-like plates, a tiara with prominent wings, causing some of her hair to cover her left eye, her armor lastly having large metal wings. However, this armor was dented, dirtied, and cracked all over from her fight with the monster. The woman sighed and the turned to Naruto with a scowl. "What are you doing?!"

Naruto looked at her plainly. "I _thought_ I was helping."

"By getting in my way!? What if that thing had killed you?!"

Naruto reared back suddenly. "I'm sorry."

The woman looked at him puzzled and then sighed. "I'll finish this thing off and then you can explain to me why you fell out of the sky."

Naruto frowned and then grinned, running up beside her. He slammed one fist into the other hand. "No way, lady. This thing's obviously beaten the snot out of you. I'm itchin' to get some action, so why don't _you_ stay back?"

The woman looked at him in disbelief. "You can't be serious. You just fell out of the sky. How could you possibly-?" She didn't get her answer as Naruto suddenly rushed forward. She outstretched a hand and tried to warn him. "Wait!"

The monster growled as he approached and then swiped its tail at him.

He grinned and jumped in the air over its head, before flashing through several hand signs. "Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" He brought his index and pointer fingers of his right hand together into a circle and then placed them over his mouth, exhaling a sudden stream of fire from his mouth, hitting the monster with enough force to knock it back several feet and make it howl in pain.

The woman raised both eyebrows in surprise. "Fire magic? No, that was something different." She narrowed her eyes in thought before shouting assistance to the blonde. "The scales on its back are as hard as iron, hit its belly!"

Naruto turned to her confused but then grinned. He gave a thumbs up in response. "You got it!" He then looked ahead as more purple energy condensed at its mouth. "Hit the belly, huh…I've got just the thing." He clapped his hands together and then slammed them on the ground, blue energy sparking from his hands.

The redhead raised an eyebrow when the monster was suddenly hoisted into the air from underneath by a giant stone hand. Her eyes widened some. "Earth _and_ fire magic?"

Naruto then jumped high in the air, flashed through several more hand signs, and inhaled heavily. "Wind Style: Wind Bullets!" He then spat several small, balls of air that impacted the monster's underside with force, sending blood flying into the sky. He then glanced down at the woman. "Now it's your turn!"

She looked at him confused but then nodded with a smirk and flapped the heavily damaged wings on her armor and flew up into the air, and then descended with force, her dual swords outstretched in front of her. A streak of light trailed her blades as she fell, before blood shot from the monster's neck as its head fell to the ground.

"Yes!" Naruto said proudly as he came down with a soft landing, pulsing a small amount of air so he didn't brain himself again.

The woman sighed in relief as the monster's body stopped twitching.

Naruto watched in amazement as her whole body was enveloped in light before her extravagant, winged armor seemed to just vanish and was replaced by a simple armor with a breastplate composed of a single piece of metal, decorated with curved lines and a deformed, yellow, cercelee cross, with the cross's right arm extended to the right side of her armor, with the shorter left arm covering an odd, red marking underneath, large and detailed shoulder guards, a waistguard composed of simply of two elaborate plates hanging from a simple belt over a thinner pair of plates circling her waist, plated gauntlets that extended up to her elbows, covered by elbow guards adorned by protruding metal ornaments reminiscent of feathers, a prominent, armored collared circling her neck and leaving the front side open, a short blue skirt, and long, knee-high black, leather boots.

She sighed and then turned to him with a stern expression.

"Eek!" Naruto shrieked at the intense gaze. '_Geez…this woman could turn Scar into a blubbering mess._'

"Tell me, who are you?"

"Eh?" Naruto said plainly.

"I asked who you are," she repeated.

Naruto nodded dumbly. "I'm Naruto. Naruto Uzumaki."

She nodded in return. "Nice to meet you, Naruto. I am Erza Scarlet. I would like to thank you for helping to take down this drake."

Naruto just grinned widely. "Nah, don't mention it. Though if you do want to help I could use directions to the nearest town."

Erza nodded in response. "Yes. I simply need to carve off a piece of this drake to prove to the townspeople that it is dead and will no longer harm them." She reached out a hand and a sphere of light burst from her hand and then took the form of a long, double-edged sword.

Naruto couldn't resist gasping in awe. "Wow! That's so cool, y'know! How'd you do that, y'know?"

Erza looked at him puzzled. "Haven't you ever heard of requip magic?"

Naruto blinked in curiosity. "Isn't magic just illusions?"

Erza looked at him like he was the dumbest thing on the planet. "You're kidding right…? Magic is the most basic element of life in our world and you only know it for parlor tricks?"

Naruto scratched the back of his head in thought. "Yeah, pretty much."

Erza narrowed her eyes. "That's a lie. You just used some yourself, earth magic, fire magic, and wind magic."

Naruto tilted his head in confusion. "I did?"

**'_She means your ninjutsu and alchemy._'**

Naruto nodded in recognition. "That wasn't magic. The wind and fire attacks were ninjutsu, the other thing was alchemy."

"Alchemy? Ninjutsu? I've never heard of these things. I suppose it is unimportant. What I'd really like to know is why you suddenly fell out of the sky."

Naruto suddenly paled. "Ah…well…you see…"

Erza narrowed her eyes and pointed her blade at Naruto. "You're stalling. Why?"

Naruto laughed uncomfortably. "Now…c'mon…let's not do anything rash, y'know."

Erza raised an eyebrow and then pushed her sword forward some. "Why do you keep repeating that?"

"Repeating what?"

"'Y'know'?"

Naruto blinked. He then moaned. "Aww man, I thought I stopped doing that…"

Erza sighed and then lowered her blade, it disappearing in a burst of light. "If you truly don't want to answer me that's fine. Unless…you don't remember."

**'_That's a good out. Use it._'**

Naruto gave a subtle nod. "Yeah…I was trying to think of a way to say that so you'd believe me. I really have no idea where I am."

Erza folded her arms as she continued speaking to him. "Is that so? Then how do you know these ninjutsu and alchemy techniques?"

"I remember my history. What I don't remember is how the hell I ended up here. I'm lost and don't know what's going on. Well, aside from the fact that I just helped a pretty lady take down a giant gator."

Erza raised an eyebrow. "Is that so? Well, then I think I know who can help you."

Naruto blinked curiously. "You do?"

Erza nodded with a smile. "Yes. Master Makarov. He is the guild master of Fairy Tail, the guild I belong to. If you'd like, I could lead you there after I finish up this quest."

Naruto nodded in agreement. "Sounds good to me. Although…what were thinking of hacking off?"

Erza examined the beast and then noticed its head. "I'll take its horn, why, do _you_ want to cut it off?"

Naruto laughed weakly. "I think I may know a way that's less…violent." Acting without waiting for her to respond he walked up to the drake's head and clapped his hands together, then placed one on its horn. Blue energy sparked from his hand before a small line appeared on its horn. Naruto grunted lightly as he lifted up the severed horn. He grinned and looked at Erza. "So, ready to go?"

She nodded and then stretched out her hand. "If you please. I would like to carry it myself. I was the one contracted to slay the drake after all."

Naruto looked up at the horn, which he was keeping aloft with a small trickle of wind chakra, with a worried expression. "I dunno…it's pretty heavy."

Erza smiled lightly. "I assure you, I am plenty strong to carry it."

Naruto looked at her uncertain but shrugged before letting it drop. "If you say so, but just let me know if-wwuuhh…?" He trailed off stupefied as she easily hoisted the massive horn with one hand. "H-holy crap…"

Erza looked at him plainly. "Told you I could handle it myself."

Naruto just nodded dumbly. "Uh…yeah."

* * *

Eventually Naruto and Erza made their way down to the small town below, where Erza showed the townspeople the horn of the giant drake.

In response they celebrated and offered to decorate the horn as a gift to Erza.

Naturally she accepted it, hauling the massive object over her shoulder with a single arm.

As she left she turned to Naruto. "It's time to go."

Naruto nodded as he got up and then looked at the horn. "You know…even if you are insanely strong…I could make it easier to carry that thing."

Erza raised an eyebrow curiously before setting it down. "Is that so? But you said you'd never seen requip magic."

Naruto nodded in return before digging into one of his pouches and pulling out a scroll. "I haven't. I use storage scrolls."

Erza looked at him curiously as he unrolled the scroll in his hands to a certain point. She observed that the scroll had a series of symbols drawn on it with each group have a large diamond shape in the center with a different series of symbols inside the diamond shape. She then watched as another object appeared, a brush and an ink well. She put a hand on her hip in thought. "This is quite possibly the most bizarre storage method I have seen."

Naruto just shrugged. "It's served me so far." He then drew a few symbols inside an empty diamond. The horn suddenly exploded into a burst of smoke before the smoke was sucked inside the seal.

Erza gasped in surprise. "That's quite impressive."

Naruto nodded as he stood up and unrolled the scroll. "Yup. All I need to do is find the horn's spot in the scroll again and then I can unseal it."

Erza nodded as she turned to start walking. "So, shall we?"

Naruto grinned in response. "Yup. You said this place is called Fairy Tail, right?"

Erza nodded as they continued walking. "Yes. It is. It is but one of the many magical guilds across the kingdom of Fiore."

"Fiore, huh? I hope it's not too much to ask, but I don't know anything about this place. The only thing I really know is what we've talked about so far and that the planet is called Earth Land."

Erza looked at him slightly puzzled. "I understand. If you'd like then, I can give you a basic overview of the kingdom and the guilds."

Naruto pumped a fist into the air. "Sounds good to me!"

"Right. To make things simple, do you know what a guild is?"

Naruto put his hands behind his head in thought. "Sorta…there were a few guilds where I'm from…but they were mostly groups of rogue ninjas who couldn't find work anywhere else."

Erza narrowed her eyes. "I see. Well here, guilds like that are called Dark Guilds. It's best if you stay away from them when possible."

Naruto nodded plainly. "Right."

"I suppose you'll need an introduction to what legal guilds are here then." She put a hand on her chin in thought. "I suppose…the best way to describe it is a family. With the guild master acting as the parent who watches over the others."

Naruto looked up at the sky in thought. He then grinned happily. "Heh, heh. Sounds like one of the Hidden Villages if you ask me."

"Hidden Villages?"

Naruto waved a hand dismissively. "Not important. Anyway, so what's Fairy Tail like?"

Erza nodded, confused why he was so secretive though. Not that she had any room to talk. "We are most certainly a family. The master considers each of us his children."

Naruto gave a slightly disturbed look. "Sorry, but for some reason those words together sound kinda…"

"Kind of what?" Erza asked plainly, though with an overtone of, "give the right answer or die."

Naruto raised his hands high in the air. "Nothing!"

"I see."

Naruto sighed in relief how easily her attention was deflected. '_Geez…she's crazy._'

**'_Heh, heh. It's always the crazy ones that are the best though._'**

Naruto raised an eyebrow. '_What does that mean?_'

**'_You…really don't know?_'**

'_No._'

**'_Well…it's hard to explain._'**

Naruto shrugged. '_Whatever._'

"At any rate, the guilds don't simply operate as they please though, that's reserved for the Dark Guilds," Erza added.

Naruto looked at her as he listened. "I see. So who _does_ oversee the legal guilds?"

"The magical council of Era. They oversee the different forms of magic and decide what kinds, and even what specific spells, are legal or not. They also give out orders and commands to the guilds, governing over them."

"I see. So just how many guilds are there?"

"I'm not certain truly. Although I know there are at least more than a hundred. Though most are too small to be considered any of the major guilds, like Fairy Tail or Blue Pegasus." Naruto noticed the slight cringe when she mentioned the latter.

He and Erza continued walking for another day or so, Erza explaining more about the guild and how it worked.

Naruto was surprised how similar the guild and its guild master were to a hidden village and its kage. Essentially the guild master was the person that ran the guild, giving out orders and whatnot from his position as leader. And sometimes punishments. The guild also had a request board, where the series of jobs that people were requesting of Fairy Tail were posted, any member being allowed to pick a job and take it, reaping the rewards of the job and sharing a small amount with guild.

She also told him about some of the individual members.

Such as Natsu Dragneel. A man with a special kind of magic that was specially designed for taking down dragons.

Naruto was almost as surprised to hear that as he was to hear that dragons were real. A certain Ten-Tail one feeling rather offended.

* * *

After a few more days' trip the duo made it to the outskirts of the town in which Fairy Tail was based, Magnolia.

Naruto looked over the town with awe. "Wow…it's so big."

Erza nodded happily. "Yes. It feels good to be back. Although…I've been hearing my guildmates have been causing trouble."

Naruto blinked in curiosity. "Really? I thought you guys were a light guild."

Erza nodded with a heavy sigh. "We are…although that doesn't mean our guild doesn't cause trouble. Our members are infamous for causing severe property damage as a result of our magical powers. Speaking of…" Naruto turned to her curiously, "I think for now you should refer to both your different jutsus and alchemy as magic. You can tell the others the specifics later. For now though…I'm going to need help from some of my guildmates."

Naruto tilted his head curiously. "Oh, why's that?"

Erza thought for a moment before answering. "Before meeting up with you, I overheard rumors that a Dark Guild is planning something dangerous. And not only that, it's one of the more powerful ones, Eisenwald."

Naruto looked up in thought. "Eisenwald…they definitely have an evil sounding name."

Erza nodded in response.

"Hey…if you need help, I could come along. Not like I've got anything better to do."

Erza looked at him thoughtfully and then shook her head. "No. You aren't a member of our guild. You don't know what kinds of dangers we'll be facing."

"I once fought a guy that could control six dead bodies with insane powers and that all shared sight, making it nearly impossible to get the drop on them."

Erza looked at him in disbelief. "That…sounds ridiculous."

"Well so does a guy that can eat fire!"

Erza sighed in resignation. "Fine. You can come along. I'll consider this your trial for joining the guild, should you feel the need to do so."

"Yes!" Naruto cheered quietly.

"However…" her tone suddenly darkened in a way that frightened the blonde. "Before that…I'll need to reprimand my guild for all the trouble they've been causing. Once that is done with we will leave."

"'Kay!"

"Hey, Erza!"

"Huh?" Naruto mumbled.

Both he and Erza turned as a person walked up to them.

It was a young girl with short, light-brown hair that fell just below her shoulders, a large bang covering most of her forehead, big brown eyes, as well as a rather large bust, who also wore a white and red spaghetti strap shirt with a similar cross design to what Erza's armor bore, a denim miniskirt with slits up both side, knee-high boots with light-brown borders, a flower-patterned armband on her right arm, a necklace with a small, heart-shaped pendant, and a belt around her waist which held up a pair of tonfas. The girl ran up to Erza waving. "Hey, Erza, you're back!"

Erza nodded in return. "Yes, I am."

The girl nodded and responded happily, "Great! Haru, Musica, and I just got back too."

"Elliiee!" they all heard a voice moan.

The three turned to see two others running up behind the girl.

The lead of the two was a young man with white, spiky hair and dark irises who wore a light blue shirt underneath a black jacket with fur on the collar and the same cross in white as was on Erza's armor and the other girl's shirt, a pair of white cargo pants with a chain dangling on the right pocket, black shoes, a simple necklace with several beads on it, and a large, double-sided, metal sword with a red hilt. He ran up to the girl panting. "Geez…Elie, don't run off like that."

The second person, a tall young man with brown eyes and spiky black hair, with three metal studs over his left eye, silver earrings on his ears and who wore a simple red shirt underneath a closed brown jacket, beige pants, and black shoes, walked up to the group. "Yeah-" his attention suddenly shifted to Erza, "why hello Erza. Nice to see you again."

Erza sighed in annoyance at the dark-haired man's obvious advance and answered plainly, "Yes, nice to see you as well Musica."

The silver-haired boy noticed Naruto curiously and pointed to him. "Hey Erza, who's that guy?"

Erza looked to Naruto and then answered, "His name is Naruto Uzumaki. He was lost in one of the forests near the town where my last job was so I decided to see if the master could help him."

Naruto bowed lightly in greeting. "Nice to meet you."

The girl raised a curious eyebrow at his act. She then noticed his whisker marks. "Are those…whiskers?"

Naruto tilted his head puzzled. "No…they're just something I've had since I was a kid."

"Are you part bug?"

Naruto face-faulted. "WHAT!?" '_I'm pretty sure Kurama would be insulted by that._'

**'_Agreed,_'** Ryuujin concurred.

The stud-eyed man put a hand on his hip in annoyance. "Hey, Elie, you do know that not everything with animal features is a bug, right?" He then turned to Naruto with an apologetic smile. "Sorry 'bout that pal, Elie has a tendency to refer to animals as bugs."

Naruto waved a hand dismissively. "Don't worry, I've been called worse."

The ravenette shrugged then chuckled. "Though I suppose her amnesia would account for her calling everything a bug."

Elie puffed her cheeks in annoyance.

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Amnesia?"

Elie turned to him from the spiky-haired man and nodded slowly. "Yeah…I don't remember anything from my past other than these letters on my arm, they spell Elie." She showed him the numbers which read, "3713." "So…that's my name."

Naruto folded his arms in thought. '_I wonder if I can help her…it's not right for someone to remember anything, their memories are who they are._'

The silver-haired teen then walked up to Naruto and stuck out his hand. "Anyway, I'm Haru Glory, but you can just call me Haru, future Rave Master."

The studded man nodded and pointed to himself with his thumb. "Name's Hamrio Musica, silver magic user. Also Team Rave's resident cool guy."

Elie looked at him bluntly. "Yeah-no." She then turned to Naruto with a smile. "I'm Elie like I said before." She then glanced down when she felt something brush up against her leg.

It was a small, humanoid creature with a drill-shaped nose.

Elie picked it up and said, "Oh, and this is Plue."

Naruto just looked at Plue in disbelief. '_W-what…_is_ that thing?_' "Uhmm…is that…a dog?"

Elie shrugged before holding Plue out in front of her. "Yeah, most everybody says that. Personally I think he looks like a bug."

Haru suddenly snatched Plue from her arms and held him in a defensive hug. "Elie! Plue is _not_ a bug!"

Erza suddenly shouted, "Enough! We need to return to the guild to report on our own missions. I am also heading there to help Naruto, so none of us has time to stand around."

Team Rave answered in unison with matching frightened nods, "Right Erza!" They suddenly took off running at high speeds.

Naruto just blinked curiously. '_Sheesh…she could make Scar or musclestache's sister fall in line easily._'

* * *

Soon enough they reached what Naruto realized was the headquarters for Fairy Tail. A large, three-story stone building with multiple extravagant towers, a bell-tower at the top of the building, and a large, orange banner bearing the symbol of Fairy Tail upon it in white.

"Whoa…" Naruto breathed out impressed.

Erza chuckled in amusement. "Impressive, isn't it?"

Naruto nodded dumbly. "Hell yeah it is, y'know!"

"And there he goes again," she remarked to the side. After a sigh she rubbed the bridge of her nose. "Stay behind me for now, once I'm finished reprimanding the others I'll go about introducing you."

Naruto nodded. "Got it."

"Oh, one more thing. I'd like you to give me the horn now."

Naruto shrugged but did as she asked.

* * *

Inside the guild hall, which looked like a large lunch hall, made mostly of wood with several long wooden tables, all of the people inside were stock still when the front doors opened, revealing Erza as she walked in, Naruto standing just out of view behind her, obscured by the massive horn.

He noticed everyone the room was suddenly frozen stiff, trembling at the mere sight of the armored redhead.

He noticed two people in particular, who were hand over shoulder each other, seeming to be best friends.

One was a lean, muscular young man with a slightly tanned skin tone, dark brown eyes, spiky pink hair, his Fairy Tail stamp just below his left shoulder in red, and who wore a sleeveless, gold-trimmed, black waistcoat, left open and untucked, exposing his bare torso, white, knee-length trousers, a thick black wristband on his left wrist, black open-toed sandals Naruto thought looked a lot like his ninja sandals, and a scale-patterned scarf around his neck.

The other was a young man with spiky black hair, dark blue eyes, his blue Fairy Tail crest on his right pectoral muscle, who wore a pair of dark green pants with a light brown belt, a metal bracelet on his right wrist, a necklace with a crest resembling a sword with a gem in it, and a chain attached to the belt loops on the right side of his pants. Naruto could only twitch an eyebrow as he noticed that's _all_ he was wearing, with no shirt.

Naruto noticed how the two had weak, dorky smiles as they had their arms slung over each other's shoulders, sweating heavily as Erza looked around the room. He gulped nervously. '_Damn…she seriously knows how to control a room._' As he continued looking around the room, he noticed two other people over by the guild's bar.

One was a young woman with long white hair, which curled at the ends and had the bangs tied up into a small ponytail, a rather impressively large bust, and blue eyes who wore a long maroon colored dress and matching high-heeled shoes.

Another person, a teenage girl with shoulder-length blonde hair, a small ponytail to one side held with a blue ribbon, brown eyes, a large chest, as Naruto was starting to note seemed natural, and Ryuujin was rejoicing in, a pink Fairy Tail stamp on her right hand, who wore a sleeveless white shirt with a blue cross design on it, a folded collar, a short, pleated, blue skirt, with a brown belt that held a black whip on one side and a pouch with a set of keys on the other, and knee-high black boots.

However, before he could notice the others, Erza slammed the horn down with a loud crash then demanded from the others, "I've returned. Is the Master here?"

He heard the blonde girl mutter, "S-so pretty…!"

Naruto just raised an eyebrow. He didn't disagree though.

"Welcome back!" the white-haired woman chirped. "The master's at a conference."

Erza nodded plainly. "I see."

Naruto was beginning to feel tingly. He usually did when something really bad was about to happen.

"What is that humongous thing, Erza?" one of the other wizards asked.

Erza glanced at Naruto, a "shut up and let me talk" glance. "The horn of a monster I subdued. The locals decorated it and gave it to me as a souvenir. Is it a problem?"

"No, not in the least!" The man with a short bob-cut nodded and then noticed the figure behind her. "Hey, uh, Erza…who's that?"

Erza looked back at Naruto. "Oh, right. This is Naruto Uzumaki. He's someone I encountered on the road here who could use our help."

"Naruto?" a man with brown hair in a pompadour style, squinted eyes, with a cigarette in his mouth and a green, flower-patterned shirt with red pants asked. "Didn't Team Green Beast say they knew someone by that name?"

"Green Beast?" Naruto asked quietly.

Erza glanced at Naruto.

Naruto shook his head.

"You must have misheard Wakaba," Erza answered.

The man scratched his head curiously. "You sure? I'm certain-"

"Are you calling me a liar?"

"No way!" Wakaba answered frightened.

Suddenly a large, muscular man with tan-colored skin, long white hair styled upwards in long, wavy spikes with no eyebrows and dark eyes, a scar under his right eye, a black Fairy Tail crest on the left side of his neck, who wore a dark blue jacket with a purplish liner, held closed by a series of buttons, a zipper on the front that left the collar open, matching pants, and wooden geta sandals, slammed his foot on the table. "Gai is a real man! He'd never lie!"

Naruto's eyes suddenly widened.

Erza noticed this and decided to see if it was the right person. "You must mean Maito Gai, right, Elfman?"

The behemoth of a man looked at her with a confused frown. "Who else would I be talking about?"

Naruto nodded in response to Erza and then sighed. '_This guy is _way_ too much like Armstrong. The moment he takes his shirt off and talks about muscles I'm outta here._'

"I see."

Naruto then scanned around the room and noticed everyone begin to mumble.

One of them said, "I bet she's heard about what happened at Mt. Hakobe."

Another man, a slim, mildly muscular man with short, straight, slicked-back blue hair, linear, dark eyebrows, a prominent nose, a large amount of stubble on his face, including a thin mustache, wearing a knee-length white jacket with a blue liner, rolled up sleeves, as well as a simple, dark shirt underneath, brown, pinstriped pants held by a light-colored belt bearing a snake pattern with a simple, square buckle, a distinctive pair of shoes with a leopard pattern, and a large, serpentine necklace, smiled weakly. "O-oh crap…I'm a goner."

The blonde girl looked at Erza in surprise. "She's not what I imagined at all." She then noticed Naruto with her. '_I wonder who he is. Nobody else has mentioned him, except for Lee. He's actually kinda cute._'

"Listen up!" Erza ordered and even Naruto, who cognitively knew she was not his focus, froze. "On the road, I heard that Fairy Tail has been causing yet more trouble. The master may forgive you, but I will not!" She then began, one by one, shooting each of them down.

She first turned to a tall, slim, tanned young woman, with an ample bust and long, wavy, mid-back brown hair, two shoulder-length strands framing her face, with one starting from a prominent, high fringe, big brown eyes with prominent eyelashes, a black Fairy Tail stamp on the left side of her abdomen just above her hips, with most of her upper body exposed save for a blue bikini top, which in itself did little to hide her breasts, a pair of capri pants, high-heeled sandals, three plain bracelets on her left wrist, and a pair of metal bracelets adorning her biceps, and shouted, "Cana!" causing the tanned woman to drop her drinking barrel, "How dare you drink dressed like that!"

Naruto looked at her in disbelief. '_This chick could drink Grandma Tsunade under the table._'

Next was a slim young man with long brown hair kept in a low ponytail, two long, curved bangs over his face, dark eyes, and a prominent frown who wore a dark, close-fitting dancing suit with grey, rounded, outlined areas on it that covered all but his head.

"Vijeeter," Erza motioned.

"Yes?!" the man stammered in the middle of a dance pose.

"Dance outside! Wakaba, I see cigarette butts on the floor. Nab," an extremely tall, heavily muscular and massive young man with straight, black hair styled in a bob cut, with a light colored band circling it on the top, two curved bangs emerging from under it, prominent lips on a squared face, bandages on his cheeks, his shoulders adorned by white, tattoos consisting of several circles on both shoulders, in distinctly tribal attire froze fearfully, "I see you're dawdling in front of the request board as usual. Just pick one!" Erza then turned to Team Rave, whom Naruto had met before and were cowering nearby. "Elie!"

Said girl popped out of cover at attention. "Y-yes ma'am!?"

"I see you're still gambling your job money despite knowing how horrible your luck is."

Elie felt a spear in the back.

"Haru!"

Haru cringed before slinking out.

"It's unfortunate you have such a powerful blade, since you're no better with it than Natsu, so instead of standing around here dawdling you should be out training and get better with that blade, or I'll make you better."

"Aye, sir!" he answered fearfully.

The blonde froze. '_Why is Haru acting like Happy?!_'

She then turned to Musica and frowned. "Musica, what have both master and I told you about stealing and flirting? You're as bad as Loke."

Musica looked off to the side deflective. "N-not me…"

Erza raised an eyebrow. "Oh? I hear reports of a man fitting your description doing just those deeds."

"How do you know it wasn't…Gray?"

Grey shouted, "Hey man!"

Erza narrowed her eyes. "Because Gray is too busy working with the others."

Musica began to sputter incoherently. "Ah…well…I…"

"You will be punished later."

"Dammit."

She then turned to Macao. "Macao!" the man flinched in response. However, rather than speak, she just sighed in frustration.

"Say something!" he shouted anxiously.

Erza then rubbed the bridge of her nose and shook her head. "Honestly, you cause too much trouble. But I'll be kind and say nothing today."

The blonde girl had a prominent sweat bead on the back of her head. "But you've said so much already." She then turned to Mira. "What is she, a disciplinarian?"

Mira just responded happily, "That's Erza for you. Though it is odd for her to bring someone with her like that. She either took a liking to him or thinks he's in need of assistance the guild can provide."

"Still, even if she is kind of a loudmouth, she looks like an actually mature person. Surely there's no reason to be so afraid of her?"

Erza then turned her glance to the blonde. "Are Natsu and Gray here?"

"Aye!" the pink-haired teen suddenly shouted.

Naruto just sweat-dropped. '_They…don't really think they're fooling anyone…do they?_'

"H-Hi, Erza!" the half-naked teen shouted, "We're good buddies as usual!"

"Aye!"

The blonde then shouted in shock, "Natsu's turned into Happy!"

Erza nodded. "I see. It's natural for good friends to fight sometimes too." She then raised an eyebrow. "Oh, right, as I said, this is Naruto. And the one with the scarf is Natsu."

Naruto blinked in curiosity. "The fire-eater?"

"Yes."

Naruto got a deceitful look in his eye.

"You aren't thinking of trying anything…are you?"

Naruto suddenly paled. "No, ma'am."

"That said, I'm glad you two are getting along."

Gray, the stripper, answered, "No, we're not exactly 'good friends'."

"Aye!" Natsu shouted.

Again the blonde shouted, "I've never seen Natsu like this!"

Mira then drew something in the air and explained, "A long time ago, Natsu challenged Erza to a fight and got really beat up."

The blonde was about to say something when suddenly, "WHOA!" Naruto shouted in shock. "I-i-it's…floating, y'know!"

Erza felt a sudden pang of regret at bringing Naruto around.

Mira looked at him confused and then smiled. "Have you never seen a light pen before?"

Naruto looked at the strange object in her hand. "No…that's insane."

Mira giggled at his astonishment. "I see. You can draw just about anything with it in the air like it's a canvas."

Again Naruto grinned before feeling a familiar glare behind his back and dropping whatever devious plan he had concocted.

"So, are you new to Fairy Tail too?"

Naruto turned and saw the blonde girl walk up to him. He scratched the back of his head and glanced away in thought. "Well…kinda. I'm not even an actual member."

She nodded. "I see. My name's Lucy by the way."

Naruto nodded and shook her hand. "Nice to meetcha."

"And mine's Mirajane, though you can just call me Mira. And those two, as it seems Erza's already pointed out," the white-haired woman said as she pointed at the "best buds," "are Natsu and Gray."

Naruto nodded and then got a frustrated look.

Lucy looked at him puzzled. "You alright?"

Naruto tapped his foot. "Yeah…I've just never seen anyone eat fire before."

Lucy raised an eyebrow. "Seriously? That's what's bothering you?"

Naruto nodded in frustration. "Yeah! I've seen people spit fire, shoot fire, and I even saw a guy suck fire into his hand, but never eat it. Aww, it'd be so cool too!"

Erza knocked him on the head in discipline. "I thought I told you, you could only come if you don't cause trouble."

"Ooohhh," Naruto pouted like a puppy that lost its toy.

Erza suddenly backed away at his expression. '_So…adorable!_'

Naruto stood up straight and sighed in annoyance. "Fine. But I'm gonna see scaly eat some fire at some point, right?"

Lucy interjected, "Knowing Natsu, oh yeah."

Naruto then remembered something Mira said. "Hang on, you said Erza beat up Natsu?"

Mira nodded.

Macao then chimed in, "Yup. Erza then found Gray walkin' around naked and beat him up too."

Cana then added, "She beat up Loke too for hitting on her."

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Loke…? Who's that?"

Erza just sighed. "Merely another member of the guild. At any rate, Natsu, Gray, I have a favor to ask."

"Huh?" they responded in unison.

'_Guess it's time to mention that Dark Guild thing,_' Naruto thought to himself.

**'_This oughta be interestin',_'** Ryuujin remarked.

Erza continued. "I heard about something bad on my last job. Normally I would consult master Makarov about something like this first, but I believe this is a matter of utmost urgency."

Natsu and Gray listened intently.

"I want your help, will you come with me?"

The two looked at each other confused, as similar sentiments of surprise were shared among the guildmembers.

Naruto looked around puzzled. '_Huh…I guess she's really famous for being a lone wolf. …Although…taking on that giant…_thing_ back there should've been the clue I was lookin' for on that one._'

Erza looked at Natsu and Gray one more time before preparing to leave. "We leave tomorrow, make sure you're ready."

'_Me and him…_' Gray thought annoyed.

'_…on a team?!_' Natsu unknowingly finished Gray's thought in frustration.

"Erza, Natsu and Gray…" Mirajane mumbled to herself, "I never imagined it.

Lucy and Naruto turned to see Mira's look of pure shock.

"This could very well be the strongest Fairy Tail team ever assembled."

Naruto looked back at the three and gulped. '_Damn…these guys have got to be powerful. Heh, heh, if I tag along with this…it's bound to get awesome!_'

Erza turned to leave the guild hall for her own house, though she was stopped when one of the other guild members walked up to her to talk.

Naruto stood in the middle of the guild hall as the atmosphere seemed to lighten up before everyone went back to eating and drinking, though he could tell they were holding back their enthusiasm. However, as he looked around the room he began to notice something strange that he couldn't quite put his finger on.

He noticed it as Cana sat talking with a green-haired woman. He felt like he was getting closer to the answer. He noticed it as well when Lucy was laughing happily while talking to Mirajane. "Huh…" He noticed it yet again when Elie was talking with Erza. He fully realized it right then. He then asked befuddled, "What…do they eat?"

"Huh?" Macao asked as he leaned over.

Naruto suddenly realized that with little exception, all the women in Fairy Tail had rather large breasts. '_This…is weird._'

**'_Hahahahah! Who's complainin'?! It's worlds better than that washboard smorgasbord Leaf Village! Everywhere you look there's massive funbags!_'** Ryuujin added ecstatically.

Naruto just sighed. '_Geez…you really _are_ a mega-perv._' He then paled as he realized something unfortunate. "Oh…crap…"

Mira looked at Naruto worriedly. "You alright Naruto?"

"I…don't have a home here…or even money. I don't even know what counts as money here…"

Mira raised an eyebrow. "Hmm…I guess that is a problem."

Naruto turned to her pleadingly. "Does Fairy Tail-?"

"No."

"I didn't even finish my question!"

"Sorry. But Fairy Tail only has dormitories for members. And even then it costs money to stay."

Naruto sighed heavily and then wandered out. "Okay…"

Lucy frowned sympathetically. "Poor guy."

Mirajane turned to her with a smile. "You could let him stay at your place."

"No way! I have enough trouble with Happy and Natsu, I don't need another freeloader!"

* * *

Naruto grumbled as he walked through the streets of Magnolia. "Crap…I wish I woulda asked for a map or somethin'…I don't know where the hell I'm going or anything." He then stopped as he looked around and then shouted, "Why does this place have to be so damn big?!" After a couple seconds he slumped shoulders and sighed in defeat. Scratching his head in thought he decided, "I guess I can use alchemy to make a house outta stone or something since Ryuujin hasn't taught me Wood Style yet." With that plan in mind he turned and rounded the nearby corner when he felt something slam into him from the side.

With a grunt he sat up and looked to the side to see what had run into him, and had to do a double take since he thought he was hallucinating.

In front of him, sitting on the ground moaning was a teenage girl with long, light brown hair, bangs framing her face, and light red eyes who wore a white t-shirt, yellow jacket with rolled sleeves, a short maroon skirt, and short brown boots. She moaned as she rubbed the back of her neck and looked ahead. "Sorry about that, I…wasn't…watching…"

Naruto's eyes widened before both he and the girl stood up swiftly and hugged tightly. "Julia!"

"Naruto!"

"Haha! I don't believe it!" Naruto pulled back and looked at her. "I can't believe you're actually alive."

Julia pulled apart from him and nodded with a smile. "Yeah, neither can I really. Anyway…" Julia looked around the two of them embarrassed. "We're starting to attract a crowd."

Naruto gulped. "Oh…yeah. But I don't have a house so I can't go anywhere really."

Julia raised an eyebrow. "Really? Then you can just stay with me for the time being."

Naruto blinked in surprise and then flashed a wide, toothy grin. "Great!"

"Julia!" a voice called.

Both Naruto and Julia turned as a woman with short purple hair, red eyes, purple lipstick, and wearing a black and purple, fitting outfit walked up to them.

Naruto raised an eyebrow and then gasped. "You're…Miranda!"

She nodded to him. "Yes…wait, you're that Naruto boy, aren't you? The one that helped Julia."

Naruto nodded with a smile. "Yeah. I have to say it's kind of odd to see you now…given that you were…well."

Miranda narrowed her eyes with a pained nod. "I remember it clearly when Ashle-I mean, Atlas, stabbed me in the back. At any rate, why exactly are you here? In this world?"

Naruto shook his head. "I don't think we should talk here. Are you guys staying anywhere?"

Julia nodded but then raised an eyebrow. "Wait…I just realized something. You came into town with Erza Scarlet, didn't you?"

Naruto looked at her curiously and shrugged. "Yeah. And?"

Miranda paled. "Sorry…but that is not something that is easily disregarded. Erza doesn't just pick up random strangers all the time. You must tell us how that happened."

Naruto nodded in agreement. "I will as soon as we get somewhere else."

The two women nodded before leading Naruto to their shared home.

* * *

Julia and Miranda stood outside the door to their apartment, which was naturally seated in a larger structure, and unlocked the metal door leading inside.

The apartment itself was understandably small. Directly across from the door was the dining room living room combination, separated by the long couch at the edge of the living room. To the left of the door was a small wooden table with seating for four, the couch being just a few feet past it.

The living room featured a coffee table in the middle of the room, a larger couch on the back wall, a small indentation in the wall for books on the right side, the wall to the left side of the room featured a long, short window along with two chairs, a fireplace opposite it on the right wall.

To the right of the doorway was a small kitchen with a stove, fridge, sink, and limited counter space with just enough shelving for utensils and cookware.

At the end of the right wall, in between the living room and kitchen, was a small hallway leading to a bathroom and two bedrooms.

Naruto looked around thoughtfully. "Not bad."

Julia nodded in agreement. "Yup. Not bad for eight thousand Jewel a month, is it?"

Naruto raised an eyebrow confused. "Jewel?"

Miranda looked at him puzzled. "You do know what Jewel is, right?"

Naruto laughed uncomfortably. "Nuh-uh. I've only been here a few days, I don't even know what this planet uses for currency."

Miranda and Julia sighed in unison.

Julia looked at Naruto amusedly. "So that means you don't know thing one about this world, do you?"

Naruto sweat-dropped weakly. "…No…"

Miranda nodded to herself. "I suppose it'll be up to us to teach you."

Naruto nodded in return. "Right. Though it'll have to wait."

"Why is that?" Julia asked puzzled.

"Because, I'm going with Erza's team to take care of this Dark Guild."

They both froze in shock.

"Hold on!" Julia argued. "You're telling us that you literally just got here and you're going to go fight a Dark Guild?! That's insane!"

Naruto grinned in response. "I'm a whole hell of a lot stronger than before."

Julia looked at him suspiciously. "And how's that?"

Naruto nodded and then flopped down on one of the dining room chairs. "I'll explain everything. But it's gonna be a doozy."

* * *

**Well, that's it for the first chapter of Fairy Tail's Dragon God. Make sure to leave a review telling me what you guys think and don't forget to leave your opinion about which story to continue on the poll.**


	2. Trial Membership

**Chapter II**

**Hello everyone! Yup, I made a selection. Fairy Tail's Dragon God is the story that shall be continued. Rise of the True Phoenix Dragon Life 2 will be continued...when I finish something up. That'll probably be a while though. Anyway, I'd like to thank my coauthors, yes, I have two for this story now, Bakuto Masaki and seeker of true anime fan fic, for the help they've given me in writing this. I want to clarify a few things before we get going. First, a lot of you expect Naruto to be all powerful already. Technically, he's unbelievably powerful, but he doesn't have control. So whenever Naruto goes into a universe, Ryuujin seals 75% of his powers so he doesn't cause any problems. Under certain circumstances Ryuujin releases the seals, or Naruto himself can if his emotions rise high enough, but in that case it never results in anything good. Second, this is going to be hard to explain, but, alchemy is free-form, the user can do anything they want with as long as they have the necessary chemicals. But that's its problem, you have to have the proper scientific alignments. Ninjutsu is not as free-form as alchemy, meaning each jutsu has a specific way of how it occurs and is set up, but as a result it is more powerful. However, magic is extremely restricted, each spell has one specific form and use and one only, but the trade-off is that a Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu would be blown away by the spell Fire Ball in a heartbeat. The more restricted the attacks are, the more power behind them. The simplest way to put it is alchemy is extremely malleable but also weak, magic is extremely powerful but very restricted, ninjutsu is right in the middle, more versatile than magic but more powerful than alchemy. And that is part of the reason the Fairy Tail characters, and wizards in general, are more powerful, because they use only mana, which lack of mana doesn't have the same negative effects as lack of chakra does, meaning they are able to launch more attacks, for less energy, with more power. Simplified, most wizards are more powerful than most ninja, and most ninja are more powerful than most alchemists, meaning Naruto will be seemingly weaker than all or most of the FT characters since their powers, their magic, is by default more powerful than his ninjutsu. I don't think there's much more to say before the reviewer responses so...let's get going!**

**"Waaiit"**

**Huh?**

**"You can't start this section without the main character!"**

**Uhm...Lucy? Why are you here?**

**"I _am_ the prettiest girl in Fairy Tail, so I should get a spotlight, right?"**

**Okay...that doesn't explain why Virgo's here though.**

**"Oh...I was doing something else and forgot to send her back."**

**"Does that mean I will be punished, Princess?"**

**"What is with you?!"**

**Okay, either do something or get lost.**

**"How rude! Fine, what should we say?"**

**I don't know...what do you think of Naruto, I guess? How about you first Lucy?**

**"Hmm...I guess he's kinda cute. But don't tell him I said that or you're dead!"**

**Rriiight...Virgo?**

**"Would it be okay if he punished me, Princess?"**

**"Okay...there is something seriously wrong with you."**

**I think that's enough time, g'bye!**

**"Hey! You can't just-!"**

_**Was it really smart to shut the door on them like**** that?**_

**Not sure, Masaki, but it couldn't end any worse than what could happen in the future.**

_**Brrr...I try not to think of**** that.**_

**Markus-Antonius: For the stories that are currently up it is: Fairy Tail's Dragon God, then Rise of the True Phoenix Dragon Life 1, Rise of the True Phoenix Dragon Life 2, Chains of Destiny Round 1, and then Mobile Warfare Beyond Dimensions.**

**seeker of true anime fan fic: You're weird, you know that?**

**Jose19: I am. Not even close. The version of Naruto from Rise of the True Phoenix Dragon is about 100 times more powerful than this one. It'll be interesting, I'll tell you that much.**

**flamenvy963: Julia Crichton and Miranda are from the movie Fullmetal Alchemist: The Sacred Star of Milos. And you were right.**

**meowy1986: Have you met Erza?! She is one scary lady. She could make Scar cower in a corner and literally turned Ryuujin, one of the most powerful things ever, into a simpering baby. As for Naruto, yeah, he is. He's about equal with Madara in this story. It's Naruto, he is a master at hiding his emotions and how he's feeling. And he's also had two hundred years to push everything down and hide it all. Besides, that kind of personality just isn't him, that's Sasuke's thing.**

**Samnamikaze23: Rave Master, Fairy Tail, Fullmetal Alchemist: Sacred Star of Milos, Naruto. That's the list of series majorly involved with this story.**

**guest: Under normal circumstances, yes. But this drake is, as Erza pointed out, different and more powerful than most. I can't say more than that right now though so all you can really do is just take it at that.**

**zero: Yes.**

**RoyalTwinFangs: Really? If you say what's confusing I might be able to explain it some.**

**Mas2009: He's a wuss around angry and powerful women, see Sakura and Tsunade. So the fact that he's scared of Erza is understandable. ? Nothing's up, most of her lines after reaching the guild are ripped directly from episode five, so she's no stricter than canon, at most, I'm worried I wrote her too lenient at parts. That's who Naruto is, he hides his pain and suffering through acting like a complete idiot, the more it hurts the dumber he acts. I like canon Naruto, somewhat. With a little more brains I like him, he's a whole hell of a lot better than other main characters out there the way I see it.**

**Apocalypse Legionaire 117: Yup, the Fairy Tail part and the second overall story in the saga. Well here it is, and it'll be the one I focus on for the time being as well, not counting Wagtail Shinobi. Oh yeah, lots of chaos. Imagine if those two and Elfman got into something like that. I think even Zeref would die from it. No, this takes place before that story. **

**Bakuto Masaki: I hope it is. So far opinion seems split. Hopefully the people that don't like it either change their opinions or go elsewhere, and I really hope more of the people who like it review the story. Although so far this is a pretty good turnout.**

**Mzr90: Really? Well this will pretty much fall in line with those in how it works, so do with that what you will. You've not read my stories very much have you? Those are just the three girls who have appeared so far, and four characters is the limit FF allows. There will be more.**

**REVANOFSITHLORD: Yes.**

**UPDATE: Okay, apparently no one has been reading this A/N. Julia Crichton and Miranda are from the movie Fullmetal Alchemist: Sacred Star of Milos.**

* * *

Miranda and Julia sat, Naruto having explained his situation to them, and were in shock.

Miranda looked at Naruto in disbelief. "T…that's…unbelievable."

Julia blinked and then sighed. "Are you sure you haven't just gone crazy?"

Naruto looked at her annoyed. "I'm sure I'm not crazy…well…yet."

Miranda looked at him incredulously. "We're really supposed to believe that our whole universe was destroyed, that you were saved by the Ten-Tails, trained with it and this 'Truth' thing for the past two hundred years, and then got dropped here to deal with fragments of our universe?"

Naruto scratched his cheek in thought. He then smiled. "Yeah, that actually sums it up nicely, y'know."

Miranda looked at him flatly. "I'd say that's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard, but the evidence of it seems to be everywhere, with this new planet we're on and everything."

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, well aside from what I've told you I don't have much proof. I've even only been in this world a couple days myself. How about you guys?"

Julia nodded in return. "We've been here about two weeks. Gai and Lee arrived shortly before us."

Naruto nodded with a smile. "So they _are_ here."

"Yeah, though they're still out on a job."

"Good to hear. I probably won't be here when they get back, though."

Julia raised an eyebrow. "Why's that?"

"Because, Erza wants me to go with her on this mission she and those other two are going on, she says it's some kind of test."

Julia and Miranda almost gaped.

Miranda then sighed lightly. "Well, I hope luck's on your side, if this is something Titania thinks she needs help on, then you'll have your hands full."

Naruto tilted his head curiously. "Titania?"

Miranda nodded. "Yes. Erza is considered Fairy Tail's strongest female member, and as a result she's been given the title Titania, the Fairy Queen."

Naruto sweat-dropped. "Oh…I suppose it fits with that weird armor."

Miranda raised an eyebrow. "Armor? You saw her fighting?"

Naruto nodded plainly. "Yeah, she was fighting a massive alligator, she was beat up pretty bad by it."

Miranda and Julia's eyes widened in surprise.

Julia then added excitedly, "Erza was actually having trouble against it?! That's pretty surprising."

Naruto shrugged. "I guess she was, I helped her beat it, so that was fun."

Miranda sighed and then stood up. "I see. Now, you'll likely have an early and busy day tomorrow, so let me show to our guest room."

Naruto nodded in agreement as he stood up and followed her.

* * *

The next day, at the guild hall, before Erza and the others departed, the majority of the guild was enjoying themselves as usual when someone suddenly burst through the door.

A relatively handsome young man with hazel eyes and shaggy orange hair, who wore azure-tinted sunglasses, three piercings in his left ear, a green coat with a wide collar and prominent, spiky, brownish fur trimming it over a red shirt, black pants, and off-white sneakers. To keep things simple, he's Loke. After bursting through the door he shouted, "Everyone! News!"

Most of the members stopped and turned to him puzzled.

Cana furrowed her brow and said annoyed, "Stop stalling and spit it out."

Loke sighed heavily and adjusted his glasses. "Well…I'm not sure how to say it. But…I saw that new kid, the one that arrived here with Erza…he was coming out of the Yuri Duo's house, with them! And he's walked here the whole time with Julia hanging off his arm!"

Almost every guy, and a couple of the girls, in the guild froze stock-still.

Elfman then slammed his foot on the table he was sitting at and shouted loudly, "That's a real man! He's turned the Yuri Duo!" He was suddenly downed by a giant alcohol barrel slamming into his head.

"Oh shut up!" Cana shouted in annoyance.

Loke turned to the door and closed it swiftly. "Everyone, they're coming!"

The door opened as Naruto, Miranda, and Julia walked in, the two women stopping and looking around.

Naruto looked around as well. "What's up?"

Miranda narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "Something's wrong."

Naruto scratched his head. "Seems normal to me."

Julia, who was in fact still holding on to his arm, laughed amusedly. "That's the problem, if this place is normal something is definitely up."

Naruto sweat-dropped. "Uhm…why is everyone staring at us?"

Julia and Miranda looked ahead and realized it as well.

They were about to ask what was wrong when Elfman suddenly burst from his seat and shook Naruto's hand roughly, breaking Julia's grip on him and shaking the boy around. "You really are a real man!"

Naruto, who was too disoriented by the sudden and uncontrolled movement, attempted to ask what he meant but couldn't speak.

Julia had a tic mark on her forehead before suddenly slamming her hand on the ground, causing a square pillar of wood to strike up out of the ground and hit Elfman in the chin, causing him to freeze and drop the blonde. She then ran over to Naruto and knelt down by his side. "Are you alright?"

Naruto just mumbled and sputtered weakly, swirls in his eyes from the disorientation.

The door then opened again as Erza walked in. She looked around and saw Naruto on the ground. She sighed in disappointment. "The day's barely started and he's already passed out?"

Julia bit back annoyed, "It's not his fault!"

Erza looked at her puzzled and then called for her other teammates, Natsu and Gray, who immediately appeared right in front of her. Erza nodded in satisfaction. She then turned to Julia. "Think you can wake him up to go with us?"

Julia looked at her annoyed and then turned to Naruto, shaking him awake. "Come on Naruto, snap out of it. You've gotten worse from Sakura."

Naruto sat up slowly and weakly. "Whoa…that was like that time Armstrong turned me into a frisbee."

Julia just looked at him puzzled.

Naruto shook the disorientation out of his head as he stood up and saw Erza.

Erza nodded to herself. "Ready to go?"

Naruto just grinned with a smile. "Yup!"

"Hey, mind if I tag along?"

The four current members of the team turned as Lucy walked up to them.

Erza looked at her curiously. "Oh, and why do you want to come along?"

Lucy flinched and then answered shakily, "Ah…well…Mira said it'd make good experience."

Erza folded her arms in thought and then nodded. "Yes, I suppose it would. This would also allow Naruto to get help from someone else new to the guild. Right, we'll head out immediately."

* * *

The group of Erza, Naruto, Natsu, Gray, and Lucy arrived at the train station shortly and were preparing for the ride.

"Hey! Don't forget about me!"

Oh yeah, Happy was there too.

"You're _so_ nice…"

Lucy had a collection of her own bags, as did Natsu and Gray. The ones that surprised her were Erza and Naruto.

Namely because Naruto seemed to have absolutely nothing and Erza had a cart the size of the guild hall. She looked at the massive cart of bags and blinked in shock. "What…is all that stuff?"

Erza looked up at the stack plainly and answered simply, "Merely items I feel are necessary for the trip."

Lucy sweat-dropped and nodded weakly.

Naruto, however, noticed the odd sweet smell emanating from the cart but was distracted when Lucy asked him, "What about you?"

Naruto looked at her curiously. "What about me what?"

"Don't you have anything?"

Naruto nodded with a grin and pulled out a series of scrolls. "Yup. Everything I need is in here."

Lucy looked at it surprised. "Wow…how does it work?"

Naruto put them away and answered, "Why don't we wait for the ride, it'll be easier to show you then."

Lucy nodded in agreement as they boarded the train.

* * *

It was then Naruto noticed that despite his ability to spit fire, Natsu had one main weakness, motion sickness. He was sitting in the window seat with the wobbly and woozy Natsu between him and Gray. Natsu leaned over and flopped and Gray's shoulder.

Gray snarled and punched him away, landing on Naruto's shoulder. "Get off me fire-breath!"

Natsu landed on Naruto's shoulder, causing the blonde to wince and push him away with one finger.

Erza sighed and looked at Natsu. "Come sit beside me."

Lucy, who was sitting beside Erza gulped. '_Guess that means she wants me to move._'

The weak Natsu and Lucy switched places as Natsu sat down beside Erza. Erza then immediately punched him in the gut and set his head down on her lap.

Naruto blinked in shock.

Ryuujin then remarked, **'_While I don't envy the punch, I envy the fire-breathing snot's current pillow. Those thighs must be soft._'**

Naruto lightly tapped a hand against his temple. '_Would you shut up?_'

Lucy then tapped his shoulder. "Mind showing me how those scrolls work?"

Naruto nodded with a smile as he pulled one out. "It's pretty simple really, the scrolls create a pocket dimension within the seal and then send whatever the object is to that dimension."

Lucy looked at him shocked. '_He's talking about creating dimensions like it's nothing…great, another weirdo._' "I…see…"

Naruto nodded and unrolled the scroll. "They're even stackable. For example this scroll is used for everyday stuff. I then have other scrolls sealed within it for different items." He perused the scroll's seals and then swiped his finger over one, and a burst of smoke erupted, causing a new scroll to appear. He held it in his hands and looked at her. "For example, I use this one for things to pass the time like books and toys." He unrolled it and unsealed one of the items, causing a small kendama to appear.

Lucy looked at it unsurely. "Uhh…isn't that a kid's toy?"

Naruto looked at her puzzled. "So?"

Lucy just laughed uncomfortably. "R-right…"

Happy looked down at a seal and said excitedly, "Ooh, what about this one?!"

As Happy's paw reached the seal in question Naruto paled. "N-no! Don't-!"

The seal exploded in a burst of smoke as a small orange book popped out.

It unfortunately landed on Lucy's lap. She looked at it curiously and opened it to a random page. She then felt a tingle up her spine as her face turned bright red, causing her to toss the book in shock. "Eek!"

Naruto sweat-dropped and then turned white as a ghost as the book landed on Natsu's head, right in front of Erza.

Naruto and Lucy suddenly both turned white as Erza picked up the book and began to look through it. Her face then turned slightly red as a look of sheer concentration formed on her face.

Lucy looked at the redheaded warrior confused. "Uhm, Erza?"

Erza looked at Lucy puzzled and then realized what she was doing and threw the book at Naruto, hitting him right in the face, saying in a weakly accusatory tone, "H-how dare you bring such…f-filth on this trip…!"

Both Naruto and Lucy and looked at her incredulously as she looked out the window embarrassed. Naruto then blinked curiously as he observed her. '_With that embarrassed expression she looks…really cute._'

Erza then looked at him puzzled, causing him to flinch. "Is there something on my face?"

It was Naruto's turned to look out the window embarrassed this time. "Ahh…n-no. It's nothing."

Erza nodded. "Right. If our…interruption, is finished, I'd like to start explaining the purpose of this mission."

Lucy nodded. "Oh yeah, that's right, you haven't told us what it is yet." Lucy then froze. '_Oh no! I agreed to this mission without even knowing what it's about! And knowing this guild it's something insane and dangerous!_'

"Our mission is simple: we are going to stop the plans of a Dark Guild known as Eisenwald. They are planning on using something called Lullaby for some unknown purpose. However, I can guarantee it is something dangerous as their leader, Erigor, also known as 'the Reaper', is involved and heading their mission. I overheard this while on my last job, and knowing the reputation of Erigor, there is only one course of action."

Naruto and Lucy gulped and asked in unison, "What?"

Erza answered sternly, "We're going to launch an assault on Eisenwald's headquarters."

"WWWHHHAAATTT, Y'KNOW!?/WWWHHHAAATTT!?" Naruto and Lucy shouted in unison.

Erza sighed and then looked at the group. "However, I know that I am not strong enough to take on an entire guild on my own, so that's why I asked for your help. Our first stop on the way will be Onibus Town."

Naruto and Lucy both sighed heavily and said weakly, "I'm dead."

Nearby, a man in a white coat narrowed his eyes as he overhead their discussion.

* * *

After they arrived in the town's train station, Naruto got out of the train with a stretch. "Geez…I thought the trains in Amestris were bad…"

Lucy nodded in agreement before looking around. "Hey…aren't we missing someone…?"

Happy looked around and then froze as the train started up.

Naruto, Happy, and Lucy then shouted in unison, "Natsu!"

* * *

Natsu was lying on the train, drooling and moaning all over himself as a tall man with black hair pulled back in a pineapple-shaped haircut with dark eyes and wearing a white coat over a black shit with light blue pants and black shoes walked over to him. The man sneered at him and slammed a foot into his face. "Well, well, look at this. Tell me something, do you know the name we have for you legal guild members?"

Natsu didn't answer, merely sitting with his arms crossed.

"Flies. All of you, Fairy Tail Flies, has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?"

Natsu looked at the man angrily and swung a flaming fist at him, causing the man to jump back. After the man backed away, Natsu smirked confidently and lit his right fist in flame when the train suddenly rumbled and began to move. "Oh no…" Natsu then slumped over, his motion sickness coming back in a vengeance.

The dark-haired man looked at him bewildered and then laughed loudly. "Oh, wow! This is pathetic! You've got motion sickness this bad?! This is hilarious!" He then grinned darkly. "Killing you will be easy!" He aimed his hand at Natsu and shouted, "My name is Kageyama, a member of Eisenwald, now die! Knuckle Shadow!" The shadow around Kageyama's feet began to twist and reshape before a fist made of shadows launched from his feet and slammed into Natsu's weakened form, sending him flying across the train car.

Kageyama was about to continue his assault when the train came to sudden stop, causing something to fall out of Kageyama's pocket.

* * *

Back at the station, Naruto and Lucy gaped as Erza had forced her way to the control room and pulled the emergency stop to halt the train. She turned to the remainders of her group and ordered, "Let's go, we have to catch up to the train."

Naruto nodded and took off on instinct, "I'll go ahead!" He then took off at seemingly inhuman speeds.

Erza watched him surprised and Lucy gaped.

"Whoa…" Lucy mumbled.

"Let's go too," Erza demanded as she ordered the others to a nearby vehicle.

* * *

Natsu stood up with a smirk and looked at Kageyama. "Alright Doggymama, time to go down."

"It's Kageyama you imbecile!" the shadow-user shouted incensed.

Natsu looked down and then noticed what had fallen out of Kageyama's pocket. A strange looking flute with a skull on the top, with three eyes on it.

Kageyama sweat heavily at Natsu realizing this and tried to attack him, but Natsu moved first.

Natsu rushed in with his right hand enflamed. "Fire Dragon Iron Fist!" He slammed his flaming fist at Kageyama.

The shadow-using Dark Mage raised his hands and shouted, "Guard Shadow!" A dome of shadows formed around Kageyama, defending him against Natsu's attack, if just barely.

A voice was then heard over the train's communication system. "I do apologize passengers, the stop was merely a false alarm, we will begin moving again immediately."

"Oh no…" Natsu paled.

Kageyama smirked when they both heard a rumble atop the train.

Red energy then sparked as a hole formed in the top, allowing Naruto to jump down through to the car.

Kageyama widened his eyes. "What the…?! How'd you catch up?!"

Naruto narrowed his eyes with a kunai in his hand and then looked at the man. "Shika…maru?"

Kageyama took advantage of Naruto's distracted state and attacked. "Knuckle Shadow!"

Naruto came to just in time to dodge the attack as the train resumed moving. Naruto snarled and went through several hand signs.

Kageyama raised an eyebrow as Naruto then bent his index and middle fingers into an arch and placed it over his mouth.

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!" A huge fireball then launched from Naruto's mouth and raced for Kageyama.

"Aww, crap. Guard Shadow!"

The train exploded in a burst of fire and shrapnel as it began moving again.

Kageyama was slammed against the opposite wall of the train, though he managed to grab the flute with his shadows before that.

Naruto turned to Natsu and was about to say something when he saw Natsu swallowing his flames. Naruto grinned victoriously.

Natsu burped as he swallowed the last of Naruto's flames, before falling over in a heap.

"How can you go from alright to sick so fast?!" Naruto snarled before seeing a strange looking car with Erza sitting where there would normally be an engine come up to the side of the train. Naruto raised an eyebrow and then tossed Natsu out of the train and at the car.

Gray and Natsu grunted as their heads collided.

Naruto then jumped out of the train and landed on the car as well.

Erza stopped the car as the train drove off.

Erza sighed as Naruto, Natsu, and Gray jumped off the top of the car and down to the ground. She then removed a clamp from her right arm and looked at the two of them. "Are the two of you unhurt?"

Gray rubbed the top of his head in annoyance. "Yeah, though I'm sure I lost a few brain cells thanks to a certain fire-breather slamming into my skull."

Natsu growled and retorted, "There weren't very many to lose! Besides, it wasn't my fault!" He then pointed at Naruto. "He threw me out of the train!"

Naruto twitched an eyebrow and mumbled, "I could've just left you there."

"Enough!" Erza intervened.

"Eep!" Gray and Natsu shrieked in unison.

Erza sighed in frustration and then looked at Natsu. "Honestly, you should be more careful Natsu."

Instead of replying with anything snarky, the pink-haired teen just nodded profusely. "Aye!"

"Now, why don't you explain what happened?"

Natsu calmed down and nodded seriously. "Yeah, I was attacked by this weird guy who controlled shadows. He dropped a weird flute, I tried to grab it but he got away."

Erza nodded slowly. "I understand, did you catch his name?"

Natsu rubbed his chin in thought. "Hmm…Doggymama? No…Applefarmer?"

Naruto sighed and then answered for him. "No, I heard the guy say his name was Kageyama."

Erza raised an eyebrow. "Kageyama…wait, he's a member of Eisenwald!"

Natsu tilted his head. "Eiffel-who?"

"Natsu!"

"Aye?!"

"Why did you let him get away?! Weren't you listening when I gave the details of the mission?!"

Naruto and Lucy both sweat-dropped and thought, '_Has she already forgotten she knocked him out?_'

Lucy then blinked curiously. "Wait, Natsu, you said the guy dropped a flute?"

Natsu looked at her puzzled. "Yeah, so what? You want it to play music?"

"Not a chance you nimrod! No, I thought I had heard the name Lullaby before, now I know where. Lullaby is a magical flute that was supposedly created by the dark mage Zeref, it's a death flute. Its song causes people to fall into an eternal slumber."

Erza grit her teeth in frustration. "Curses. It's my fault. If I had been more aware we would have seen the enemy sooner and taken the flute."

Naruto just shrugged. "I don't know how observant you'd need to be for that, but I don't blame you. All we can do now is try and chase after them."

Erza nodded and jumped back onto the car as she attached the clamp to her arm.

Naruto hopped around the vehicle looking at it curiously. "Hmm…"

Lucy looked at him incredulously. "Uhh, are you alright?"

Naruto put a hand on his waist in thought. "Is this a car?"

Lucy and the others face-faulted before the blonde girl shouted, "Yes it's a car you moron! What else would it be?!"

Naruto seemingly ignored her shouting, having gotten used to it in his own world, and just remarked, "I've never seen a vehicle like this. What's its power source?"

Erza sighed and then answered, "Get in, I'll explain later."

Naruto raised an eyebrow but shrugged as the group piled into the car.

* * *

The train that the group had been on arrived at a new station, Kunugi Station, and the patrons began to slowly climb out of the cars. However, their peaceful departure was halted when a group of people walked up to the cars, the apparent leader of the group being an extremely tall man with spiky silver hair which is held pointing upwards in spiky strands on top of his head, but hangs down to the left side of his face in a distinctive tuft, covering part of his face, black eyes with no eyebrows, numerous blue tattoos covered his face and bare torso, he also wore a long, worn hakama, a short, black, tattered cloth over that, and an equally worn white cloth used as a belt, and a black scarf on his shoulders, geta sandals, and black gloves with 'X' markings on the back and bandages going up his arms, his most distinctive feature, however, was the large, curved, serrated scythe he carried, walked up to the train.

The people looked at the man warily before he raised his scythe and pointed it at the train. "Everyone onboard this train, get lost! This train belongs to Eisenwald!"

The people began to murmur and argue.

The man sneered and raised his scythe, bringing its blade parallel to the ground, and swiped it in front of him.

The top half of one of the cars was then sheared off and fell to the side.

He chuckled darkly. "How 'bout now?"

The people slowly and fearfully left the train as the Dark Guild embarked before the train started moving again.

Kageyama walked up to the man and knelt down, handing him the twisted-looking flute. "Erigor, I've brought the Lullaby."

Erigor smirked darkly as he looked at the flute.

* * *

In another town in Fiore, Clover Town, a group of people were in a large building with multiple floors. The building was serving as the meeting ground for the Guild Master Conference, where all of the leaders of the Legal Guilds in Fiore meet and discuss the current situations amongst themselves and the Dark Guilds.

Three guild masters in particular were discussing the actions of one specific guild.

The first was an elderly, bald, cross-dressing man wearing a purple, spaghetti-strap dress, striped pink and purple shorts, a gold, hoop necklace, red lipstick and blush on both cheeks, and small white wings on his back. He was Bob, guild master for Blue Pegasus.

The second was a slim, older man with a squared face that had several wrinkles, dark blonde hair that reached his shoulders and was straight cut, who wore dark sunglasses that covered his eyes, a plain black T-shirt and pants as well as a tall hat with a wide brim and a torn top that slumped backwards. He was Goldmine, guild master for Quatro Cerberus.

The third was an extremely short, elderly man with black eyes, balding white hair, and a thick mustache. He wore a white shirt with a black Fairy Tail symbol on the front, an orange hoodie, matching orange shorts, pointed shoes, and a blue and orange striped jester hat. This was Makarov, guild master for Fairy Tail.

Bob laughed in a very effeminate tone before asking in the same tone, "So Makarov, how are those cuties in Fairy Tail doing?"

Makarov nodded in return and answered proudly, "Well as usual. We've had a few…slip-ups, with the Council recently but nothing we can't handle."

Goldmine chuckled in amusement. "I hear your guild members have been causing more destruction than the enemies they fight recently."

Makarov brushed off the remark with a loud laugh. "Well, they're young, as Gai would say, in their Springtime of Youth!"

Bob gave a very loud laugh before adding, "Yes…I would _loove_ to meet that youthful man again."

"Well, who knows. You might get the chance."

A small blue bird then flew in the window and landed in front of Makarov, dropping off a letter in front of him.

Makarov blinked in confusion as he picked it up. "What's this?"

He opened the letter and a magical hologram of Mirajane appeared.

"Oh my, Mira's grown so much in the past few years," Bob commented emphatically.

The recording then said, "Hello Master, I hope you're doing well at the conference. I just thought I'd let you know great news. Fairy Tail could very well have its strongest team ever formed. Erza, Natsu, Gray and a couple others have formed a team to handle a mission. Anyway, that's all."

Bob and Goldmine looked speechless. Though Bob fixed that swiftly. "My, my, how impressive."

The two then looked, rather confused, at the trembling form of Makarov.

Bob poked his shoulder and asked, "Makarov…what's wrong?"

Makarov answered weakly, "Those three…together…they could…destroy an entire city…this is bad…"

* * *

Erza, Natsu, Gray, Lucy, Naruto, and Happy were driving along a dirt road that overlooked a set of train tracks nearby. As they drove to reach the highest point of the road, Lucy tapped Naruto's shoulder.

He turned to her lazily. "What's up?"

Lucy answered, "You were asking before how Magic Four-Wheelers work, have you really never seen one before?"

Naruto shook his head and looked out the window. "Nope, most of the vehicles I've been in have a mechanical engine where Erza's sitting. Speaking of, why is she sitting outside?"

Lucy nodded in understanding. "Right. Well…I suppose the simplest way to put it is that the four-wheeler uses an SE-Plug, that's short for Self-Energy Plug, to use the driver's magical power as fuel."

Naruto closed his eyes in thought. "Magical power…that's…mana, right?"

Lucy raised an eyebrow at the comment. "It's not usually called that, but I guess. Why?"

Naruto shrugged in response before putting his hands behind his head. "No reason, just trying to understand it. That's all."

Lucy nodded with a smile. "Glad I could help." '_Yes! If I can help out this new kid, it'll totally give me brownie points with Erza! At least then I might be the last person she shouts at…_'

Eventually they stopped at a sharp turn on the road and exited the four-wheeler. They looked at the station where Eisenwald had stopped the train, trying to understand their motives.

"Hm?" Naruto mumbled as he looked to the side. He then lightly poked Erza's shoulder.

The armored redhead turned to him confused. "What?"

He pointed behind them. "Who are they?"

The others turned as they saw several people in what appeared to be military uniforms walking up to them.

Erza recognized them and stopped them to investigate. "What is going on here? Why are the Rune Knights here?"

One of the men answered, "Eisenwald has taken the train station, so the Council has decided to send in the army after them."

Erza paled before immediately jumping back into the four-wheeler. "Everyone! We need to go, now!"

The others looked at her surprised at her urgency but complied.

After jumping in the vehicle, Erza immediately steps on it to get to the station swiftly.

"Whoa! Hold on!" Naruto cautioned, "What's the hurry!?"

Erza grit her teeth in response. "Fools, sending in the Rune Knights after a Dark Guild like Eisenwald…they don't stand a chance."

Naruto looked at her surprised. "Are these guys really…that powerful?"

"Yes. They're one of the highest guilds in the Barram Alliance."

"The who-do-whatnow?"

"Not important."

* * *

On the train, with Eisenwald, Erigor stood over Kageyama, holding Lullaby.

After taking a moment to enjoy having the flute he turned a very irritated scowl to Kageyama. "I understand you fought a Fairy Tail Fly on your way here."

Kageyama began to sweat and tried to keep his cool. "Ah…y-yes…but it's no problem. He only saw Lullaby for a split-second."

Erigor's eyes widened as his fists clenched. "You let a Fairy Tail Fly see Lullaby and escape alive!? What the hell's wrong with you?!" Erigor raised his scythe up angrily.

Kageyama fell backward in fear. "Wait, Erigor, please!"

Erigor then swept the scythe across the aisle and in front of Kageyama.

Kageyama sat, trembling silently before reaching up and clutching his ear, Erigor having sliced a piece off in anger.

"That's your punishment for screwing up," Erigor threatened darkly, "Screw up again, and next time, it'll be your head."

Kageyama nodded his head weakly. "R-right…sir."

"Tch, what a pain in the ass. Now we have to wipe out all these Fairy Tail Flies before they can tell anyone else what we're planning. I think you all can agree that it's important we teach these flies a lesson."

The rest of the guild nodded in agreement, Kageyama still clutching his bleeding ear.

* * *

Erza drove at high speeds through the streets of Oshibana Town towards the station where Eisenwald was waiting.

Inside the four-wheeler, Happy sat with a thoughtful and strained look on his face. "Hmm…what was it…?"

Lucy turned to Happy after hearing him. "Happy? What's up?"

Happy looked at Lucy weakly. "Ahhh…I was supposed to tell you something. It was important…but now I can't remember what it was."

Lucy slumped her shoulders weakly. "Why am I not surprised…?"

Natsu merely leaned out the window about to hurl.

Naruto looked around and then noticed Erza in the front of the vehicle. He narrowed his eyes and then leaned out so she could hear him. "Hey, you feelin' alright?"

Erza grit her teeth as she tried to ignore her fatigue. "Yes…I'm fine. We need to get to the station…quickly."

Naruto lowered his eyebrows worried but let it go after a few seconds of thought.

They arrived at Oshibana Station swiftly, however what they saw was not what they had desired.

Erza stepped out of the four-wheeler and cursed under her breath. "Why has the army allowed such a large crowd to gather?"

Erza forced her way through the crowd, Naruto and the others behind her, apologizing for Erza's forcefulness.

Eventually they made their way through the crowd and to the guards around the station.

Erza wasted not a moment before she grabbed one of them by the lapels and demanded, "What's going on here?!"

Fearfully, the man responded, "I-I don't know! The Rune Knights went in about twenty minutes ago and haven't come back out!"

Erza threw the man down roughly and forced her way past the others.

One of the other guards attempted to stop her. "Ah, miss, you can't-!"

"Try and stop me!"

The man nearly wet himself.

Lucy walked by the man and offered an apologetic smile. "We're with Fairy Tail."

The man just nodded dumbly as the group walked past them.

* * *

After making it inside the station, Naruto snarled at what he saw. Multiple Rune Knights strewn across the aisle like ragdolls.

"Fools," Erza rebutted.

Naruto's eyes widened.

"That's what they get for taking on an entire magical guild with just a few dozen men."

"You shouldn't insult them like that," Naruto shot back.

Lucy, Gray, and Natsu froze at Naruto saying that so plainly.

Erza turned to Naruto impatiently. "What?"

Naruto looked at Erza harshly. "They're soldiers. They trained and paid to go into situations like this and fight. Insulting them like that discounts everything they do."

The other three cowered as Erza looked at Naruto with a stern expression, Naruto's own gaze unflinching.

After a few moments Erza sighed heavily. "Honestly…I suppose you have a point. But my point still stands, magical guilds, as I hope you've seen, are not to be trifled with. _Especially_ Dark Guilds since they don't follow laws and regulations set down by the Council. So only sending a few dozen soldiers against an entire guild's population is suicide. Now, let's get going."

Naruto nodded in agreement and the two of them ran ahead.

The others stood in shocked silence.

"Hey…" Lucy mumbled, "shouldn't she have cut his head off by now?"

"Usually…" Gray grunted.

"What're you three doing?!" Erza shouted down to the group.

"Aye!" all three shouted.

* * *

It didn't take long before they reached the top of the long staircase and found themselves face to face with Eisenwald, Erigor at the forefront.

"There you are," Erza remarked as she and the others entered the lobby.

Naruto paled slightly at the number of enemies. '_Geez…I may need to whip out my secret weapon on this one._'

Erigor turned around as he heard Erza's voice. "Ahh…if it isn't the Fairy Tail Flies. How good of you to arrive. Now you can have the front row seat to Eisenwald's glorious victory over the fools who live in the light."

Naruto looked at him thoughtfully before groaning in befuddlement. He and Lucy then asked in unison, "What does that even mean?"

Erigor chuckled lightly before laughing loudly. "You really wanna know?! Fine! Tell me, what is one thing this station has that no other buildings in the area do!"

Naruto squinted his eyes in thought before grumbling. "Trains?"

"No you halfwit! Uuhh…are all Fairy Tail Flies this stupid?"

Erza pointed her sword, which appeared in a flash of light, at Erigor. "He doesn't count, he's not one of us."

Naruto fell over as something heavy fell on his back. '_N-…not fair…_'

Erza's eyes then widened. "I see…the PA system."

Erigor laughed again, triumphantly. "Yes…you're not too bad. That's right. We will use this stations communications system, which broadcasts all across the town, and play Lullaby to everyone here. Then they will suffer for their ignorance of living in the privileges and safety of the light, while knowing all too well that there are others who do not have such rights."

Erza narrowed her eyes and then shot back, "The people who are in such a situation put themselves there."

Lucy then asserted, "Yeah! Besides, doing this isn't a way to get back your rights! All you'll do is engender sadness and pain!"

Erigor looked at Lucy confused and then guffawed in response. "Oh that's rich! Come on, do you _really_ think I'm doing all this, going through all this trouble, so I can get my rights back? What foolishness. No…I don't want rights and privileges, I want power. The reason…is because those with power make the rules and get to rewrite history any way they see fit!"

Naruto sneered at the man's remark. "Victor's Justice you mean."

Erigor chuckled at Naruto. "Not too shabby. Yeah, that's a good way to put it."

Naruto glared at Erigor and prepared to launch an attack, but Kageyama then shouted, "You really shouldn't care anyway, because you won't see the age of the Dark Guilds. All you'll see…is the afterlife!" One of his shadows then shot forward at Lucy.

She gasped and brought her arms up in defense. However, after a few seconds she lowered her arms and gasped, seeing a wall in front of her, Naruto kneeling in behind it with his hands on the ground.

Naruto got up and walked around the front of the wall. He looked at Kageyama with a cold glare. "That's a low blow jerk." Naruto brought up his hands to use a jutsu but Natsu put up an arm, having gotten over his motion sickness.

"No way, he's mine. I owe this guy for kicking me in the face!"

Kageyama laughed darkly in response. "Is that so? Then come and get me." Kageyama then sunk into the shadows at his feet.

Naruto's eyes bulged. "Whoa! Shikamaru could never do that!"

Halfway into the ground Kageyama shouted incensed, "Stop calling me that dammit!" He then gulped and disappeared as Natsu punched the air where he was.

After a moment, Erigor chuckled and then started to float on air. '_Wonderful…the Fairy Tail Flies have fallen right into my trap._'

Erza huffed as he flew away. "Natsu, Gray, go after him!"

Both nodded in agreement.

Naruto turned to her and asked, "What do you want me to do?"

Erza looked at him and then shook her head. "You're not a part of our guild yet. I couldn't stand it if you got hurt in this fight without having any stake in it."

Naruto frowned at the answer and then stepped up between her and Lucy. "How can you say I don't have a stake in this?"

"Huh?"

"You said this is a trial period for me to join the guild right? How can I join the guild if I just stand around twiddling my thumbs?"

Erza looked at him momentarily in thought.

Lucy turned to her and nodded.

Erza sighed and then answered, "So be it. Just don't blame me if you get hurt."

Naruto turned to her with a toothy grin. "Don't worry!"

"Hey!" one of the Eisenwald members shouted. "Don't forget about us!"

Lucy turned mildly blue as she looked at them. "Wow…there seem to be a lot more guys now that Gray and Natsu are gone…"

Erza frowned and raised her hands as her body was bathed in light.

The Eisenwald members looked at her confused before a few of them began to come to a horrifying realization.

Soon her normal attire was gone and was replaced with the silver armor she had worn when Naruto first met her. She then announced, "Requip: The Knight, Heaven's Wheel Armor!"

Several of the Eisenwald members lurched back. "Oh no…it's _her._"

"Titania Erza!"

Naruto raised an eyebrow. '_Titania?_'

**'_Didn't you ever listen to fairy tales as a kid?_'**

'_Except mine were mostly about my old man or old man Six Paths._'

**'_Good grief. Simple: Titania is queen of the fairies._'**

Naruto scrunched his brow in thought. '_Oh…I get it._'

Erza looked at the Eisenwald members sternly. "Now, shall we begin?"

Lucy gulped and then remarked. "There are still a lot of them…"

Naruto grinned. "Yeah…I'd say about fifty. Well…" he then raised his hands into a strange symbol, his index and middle fingers of both hands raised and then crossed over each other.

Erza, Lucy, and the Eisenwald members looked at him puzzled.

He then looked at the Dark Guild with a smirk. "If you've got fifty…then I'll just give you a hundred! Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Many plumes of smoke erupted around him, so many that Lucy and Erza had to back away for fear of being blown up. When the smoke clear everyone present gaped. There were now one hundred copies of Naruto standing in the room.

Lucy gaped at the sight. "Whoa! That's a lot of Narutos!"

Naruto grinned and turned to Lucy. "Yup. How's that for evening the odds?"

Lucy nodded with a smile and then pulled one of the keys off of her waist. She held it up in the air and called out, "Open, Gate of the Giant Crab! Cancer!"

Through a magic circle and a burst of smoke a man with dark skin, black hair braided in red cornrows with ends resembling crab pincers, and thick lips who wore green-lensed sunglasses, a blue striped shirt, a dark pair of trousers with aquamarine stripes down the sides, a ring chain in his right pocket, a hairdresser's tool bag on his left side, gray boots, and a pair of red, crab-like scissors in each hand, he also had six large crab legs sticking out of his back.

Naruto looked at the figure in confusion and surprise. "Is that some kind of…Summon Beast…?"

Lucy looked at him amused. "No, silly. This is Cancer, he's a Celestial Spirit."

Naruto sighed and then got into a battle ready pose. "I'll ask later, we've got these losers to deal with."

The two women nodded.

Cancer then walked up beside Lucy and asked, "What would you like for me to do today, baby?"

Lucy pointed Cancer's key at the Eisenwald grunts and ordered, "Take those guys out!"

Cancer dashed forward, scissors ready. "You got it, baby."

Naruto smirked and then he and all his clones jumped into the air above the other grunts while Erza took aim at a group that had separated from the others.

As Naruto and his clones reached maximum height, the air began to distort as energy collected and swirled into small, spinning balls of energy in their hands. The whole group came crashing down shouting, "Ninja Art: Rasengan Mega Barrage!"

The one hundred Narutos crashed down with the balls of swirling energy exploding onto the hapless Eisenwald members, the clones bursting into smoke as they crashed.

The smoke cleared to show the lone, real Naruto sitting atop a motionless pile of Eisenwald members chuckling victoriously.

Erza approached the group she was in front of and a circle of swords appeared around her. "Dance, my blades!" The circle of blades begin spinning, forming a disc before she sent the spinning disc of blades flying at the enemies. "Circle Sword!"

The attack reached the center of the group and burst outward, taking out the remaining enemies.

As the group fought, a single Eisenwald member cowered and ran off, hiding inside of a specialized magic circle.

Erza returned to her normal attire and turned to Lucy and Naruto. "That takes care of them."

Lucy nodded happily. "Yay!"

Erza nodded. "Naruto, Lucy, good work you two."

Naruto adjusted his headband with a triumphant chuckle while Lucy grinned happily.

Erza then turned to Lucy. "However, I don't like the way that Spirit calls you 'baby'."

Lucy then felt a pain in her back and slumped over.

Cancer came up beside her apologetically. "Sorry 'bout that ba-er, ma'am."

Erza then added, "We still have one of them running around. Lucy, Naruto, you two go after him."

The two blondes nodded and headed towards opposite entryways.

As Naruto left though, he stopped and turned around to ask Erza something and watched her slump to the ground. "Erza!" He ran over to where she kneeled breathing heavily.

She looked up at him sternly. "I'm…fine…I just used up more magic power than I should have on the four-wheeler."

Naruto frowned in frustration. "Geez…I can't run off and look for that guy when you're like this."

Erza scowled at him. "I will be fine, that's an order!"

Naruto frowned and then came up with an idea. With a devious grin he surmised, "I can do both."

Erza looked at him puzzled.

* * *

Gray and Natsu ran down a corridor looking for Erigor when they came upon a split in the path.

Natsu folded his arms in thought. "So…which way do we go?"

Gray looked at him annoyed. "We split up, you moron."

"Hey! Erza told us to look for Erigor, not to split up!"

"She's not here right now, so I think we can do this safely."

Natsu folded his arms again and then nodded. "Alright, so which way will you go?"

"Why are you asking which way _I'll_ go?"

"So I can take the opposite route."

Gray gaped. "That's not an insult you halfwit, that's how it's _supposed_ to work!"

"Gahh, just pick one!"

"Fine! I'll take the broadcast room. If Erigor's gonna play that song to everyone, then he'll do it from there."

Natsu nodded in return and went the opposite direction. A few seconds later though, Natsu turned and shouted, "Hey Gray, don't die!"

Gray just gave a thumbs up. "Not plannin' on it fire breath!"

* * *

Gray made his way towards the broadcast room and knocked open the door and looked around. "What the…? Nobody's here."

"Yeah, except _us_," a voice droned.

Gray turned around and saw a tanned skin man with narrow black eyes who wore a distinctive jacket that was mostly yellow with the top part being yellow and dark blue, a tight hood over his head, a white shirt, green pants, black shoes, and black bands around all of his fingers.

Gray tensed up and threw off his shirt as the man prepared for battle as well. "So, this was a trap then."

The man chuckled. "Oh…this was _all_ a trap. And now I, Rayule of Eisenwald, will be your death!" He slung his hands forward and the black bands extended into long black threads that lunged towards Gray.

"Crap!" Gray ducked to the side as the attacks landed and slid to the side. He balled up his right fist and placed it into his left palm, the air around the space chilling, and shouted, "Ice-Make Shield!" He thrust his left hand forward and a half-snowflake shaped shield burst from the ground.

Rayule swung his threads forward and slammed straight through the shield.

"What?!"

"Nice try!"

Gray jumped to the side and formed his Ice-Make pose again, and then shouted, "Ice-Make: Lance!" A magic circle formed in the air with long arrows shooting out of it and towards Rayule.

The band-using mage jumped out of the way and swung his hands around and attempted to wrap his bands around Gray's feet.

Gray jumped over the attack and then formed the Ice-Make pose and shouted, "Ice-Make: Lance!" Again he launched the attack, which Rayule easily blocked. However, Gray smirked in response.

Rayule turned around just in time to see one more lance coming at him from behind. He ducked and then threw up his bands to smash it.

Gray growled in frustration. "Hey buddy, you mind tellin' me why you're crazy boss isn't in here?"

Rayule snickered before throwing his bands forward again.

"Grr…" Gray then threw out, "Ice-Make: Block!" A large block of ice appeared and blocked the bands, but wasn't smashed through.

Rayule retracted his bands and chuckled. "You really wanna know that badly, huh?"

* * *

Erza looked at Naruto surprised. "That's quite a useful technique, not only can it be used in battle but recon as well."

Naruto nodded in response. "Yup, the Shadow Clone Jutsu is great…oh, one of my clones just found and beat up an Eisenwald stray."

"Was it the one we're after?"

Naruto shook his head. "Nah, someone else."

Erza sighed and then looked outside. "We have to warn the civilians, with all of this dark magic being thrown around they're in danger."

Naruto nodded and stood up. "I can handle that one, you should still be resting, I can tell just by looking how much mana you used up."

Erza noticed his odd term but sighed as she stood. "You needn't worry about me. Stay here and continue to look for that last Eisenwald member."

Naruto sighed in exasperation but shrugged and jumped to one of the upper levels and began searching.

* * *

Erza ran out of the main station and out towards the crowd around the building.

"Everyone! Listen! You need to get out of here, there is a Dark Guild inside this building and the dark magic they're using is extremely dangerous!"

Everyone looked at her confused and then began to scatter as the wind picked up.

Erza raised an eyebrow and then looked behind her in shock as a large tornado had enveloped the building. "W-what is that…?!"

"Like it do you, Fairy Tail Fly?"

Erza turned around and came face to face with Erigor.

"You! What are you doing outside the building?!"

Erigor merely chuckled in response. "Heh, you fools didn't really think my plan was that simple and stupid, did you?"

"What?! What do you mean?!"

"You'll never escape this Wind Wall, until it's too late!" With that, Erigor sent a blast of wind at Erza and knocked her through the prison and in to the other side.

Erza stood up and ran over to the swirling wall of wind and slammed her fist against it in aggravation. "No! Erigor!" However, the wall burst back with a blast of wind and sent her hurtling backwards. She scowled in anger before making her way back into the station to warn the others.

* * *

Outside the Wind Wall, Erigor chuckled to himself. "Now…to get going to the real target."

* * *

Rayule and Gray continued their standoff, though Gray's expression had morphed into a far angrier glare. "You bastards!"

Rayule merely laughed at him. "You're surprised!? Did you really think we'd waste something as powerful as Lullaby on a bunch of weak-ass civilians?! No way, we're headed straight for the top, the Guild Masters! The whole deal with this pathetic little station was just get you flies out of the way!"

"Why you…Ice-Make: Floor!" The floor itself suddenly turned to ice and Rayule lost his balance as a result.

"Crap!" Rayule flung his bands up and caught himself on a piece of the ceiling.

Gray then smirked as Rayule landed on an unfrozen part of the floor. "You see buddy, there's something you should realize."

"Huh?" Rayule mumbled before looking down at his feet and gasping.

"Freeze!"

The ice then extended forward and covered Rayule's entire body, freezing him solid.

"There are some guilds that are more fearsome than the Dark Ones."

As Gray walked out of the room, he turned and saw Naruto standing by the doorway. "Yo, what's up?"

"Do you think what that guy said is true?" Naruto asked.

Gray sighed and then shrugged. "Probably. Which means we better get our asses moving."

Naruto nodded in agreement. "Yeah, unfortunately that won't be too easy, since Erigor's put a huge wall of wind around the station." Naruto then disappeared in a burst of smoke, only being a clone.

"Wait!" Gray demanded weakly as the clone vanished. "Huh…where'd he go?"

* * *

Natsu continued running around the station aimlessly, trying to find where Erigor could be, not realizing he was no longer in the building.

What he also didn't realize, was the shadow that followed him along the ceiling.

* * *

Naruto ran through the halls of the station when the memories of his clone that had spoken with Gray returned to him. He clenched his teeth and then formed a new clone. He turned to it and ordered, "Keep searching for this guy, I gotta let Erza know!"

The clone saluted emphatically. "Right, boss!"

* * *

Erza was in the main room, holding a battered Eisenwald member by the collar. "Answer me…how do I break this wind spell?"

The dark-haired man merely laughed insultingly at her. "You can't. It won't come down until Erigor takes it down. And by the time that's done…our mission will be done."

Erza snarled at the man and tossed him down, moving to the next grunt.

"Erza!"

Erza turned as Naruto appeared from one of the hallways, Gray beside him.

She looked at Gray and noticed his battered state. "What happened, did you meet Erigor?"

Gray shook his head. "No, I didn't find him, but I've got bad news."

Naruto nodded in agreement. "Yeah, this whole thing at the station was a ruse."

Erza looked at them confused and narrowed her eyes. "What do you mean?"

"Erigor's plan was never to attack the people outside, his aim the whole time was something called the Guild Master's Conference."

Erza's eyes then widened greatly. "Damn, I should've realized this was a trap."

Naruto sighed as he looked around. "First problem is getting past that damned Wind Wall."

Erza clenched her fist and then walked over to one of the downed men. "I demand you to answer me, how can we break through that barrier."

The man just smirked sadistically. "You will _never_ break through it…"

Naruto sighed and walked up beside her. '_Hey, Ryuujin, do I have access to the Mangekyo Sharingan right now?_'

The dragon remained silent for a few moments. **'_There. I've unlocked up to the Rinnegan. Just, try not to blow anything up and remember not to set anything on fire either._'**

'_Yeah, yeah._' Naruto tapped Erza on the shoulder.

She looked at him annoyed. "What?!"

Naruto winced at her shout but persisted, "Let me handle this. I'll get what we want out of him."

Erza raised an eyebrow but nodded and let the man go.

Naruto knelt down in front of him and close his eyes.

The man looked at him puzzled.

Naruto then reopened his eyes with several differences. His irises were red with a circle of three tomoe in each. The tomoe then extended and combined in the center to become a three-point pinwheel before the center shrunk and three more points stuck out, becoming a six-pointed pinwheel, with a red circle in the center. A moment later spokes stuck out from the points and conjoined each point. He smirked in thought. '_Cool, Eternal Mangekyo, and it's got part of Kakashi's in it._' He then looked the man in the eyes. "Now, you're going to tell me what we're asking for, understood?"

The man snarled in response. "Go to hell."

Naruto smirked. "Works for me." He looked the man in the eyes again and whispered, "Tsukuyomi."

The man's eyes widened before tensed and went limp.

Erza and Gray looked at him confused.

The man came to a few seconds later and looked at Naruto horrified. "K-Kageyama…Kageyama can undo the spell…"

Naruto smiled. "Wasn't that easy."

Erza nodded and asked, "How did you get him confess so easily?"

Naruto ran a finger across the bridge of his nose and chuckled, his Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan receded. "That's not important right now, we've gotta find this Kageyama guy so he can get us out of here."

Erza gave a last wary look at Naruto and then ordered Gray and Naruto to find Kageyama.

After they left one of the men on the ground, a tall man with a square face, dark eyes, black hair arranged in a flat tuft pointing up, and three whisker-like hairs on each side of his face, wearing a zipped brown jacket with a collar over a black shirt, blue pants, and brown shoes looked towards a section of the wall and called out quietly, "Karacka."

A yellow magic circle appeared on the wall as a short, hunched, fat man with no visible nose, very thick lips, green hair in tall, rounded spikes, who wore a red jacket with lighter-colored edges, with a high collar that was fastened leaving the rest open over a white shirt that exposed some of his large stomach along with loose, military-style pants, and blue boots came out of the magic circle. "Wh-what is it, Byard?"

Byard groaned and then looked at the fat man. "I've got a very…special mission for you…Karacka."

* * *

Natsu continued running through the hallways of the station before stopping and sighing.

Above him, Kageyama's Shadow Form stopped as well. '_Uh-oh…did he notice me?_'

Natsu threw his hands in the air and shouted, "Where are you crazy scythe guy!?"

Kageyama just looked at Natsu in disbelief.

Natsu turned to one of the walls and encased his fist in flames. "If you won't come out, then I'll just bring down the whole station.

'_Th-this guy's…supposed to be in a Light Guild?_'

Natsu proceeded with his threat and began busting through walls.

* * *

Lucy and Happy were searching through the halls of the station as well trying to find Karacka. After a few moments, Lucy stopped and moaned. "Geez…we're never gonna find this guy." She then turned to Happy. "Come on, why don't we head back and tell Erza we couldn't find him?"

Happy looked at her shocked at the declaration. "Wooww, Lucy. You're so brave, defying Erza's orders like that."

"Eh?" Lucy squeaked out.

"But I have to say I feel sorry for you, because the _things_ Erza will do to you are…let's just not talk about it."

Lucy immediately pointed ahead ambitiously, and fearfully, order, "Right! Let's keep going, Happy!"

"Aye, sir!"

* * *

Natsu burst through a wall with his fists ablaze and looked around angrily. "Come on! Where are you!?"

"Good grief, you Fairy Tail Flies sure are noisy."

"Huh?!"

Natsu turned around as Kageyama appeared from his shadows.

"Hey! It's Calibratorcab!"

"That doesn't even sound remotely the same you retard!" Kageyama growled at Natsu's apparent stupidity and then thrust his hand forward. "Knuckle Shadow!" A fist made of shadows appeared from the floor and raced towards Natsu.

The Dragon Slayer ducked to the side and spat fireballs at Kageyama.

Kageyama crossed his hands in response. "Guard Shadow!" A dome of shadows appeared around him and blocked the flames.

Natsu raced towards Kageyama and threw a series of punches and kicks, all of which Kageyama blocked or dodged. In frustration, Natsu jumped back, encased his hands in flame and charged forward shouting, "Fire Dragon Iron Fist!"

Kageyama barely dodged the attack but the burst of flames from the attack also ended up throwing Kageyama against the wall. He stood up angrily and smirked at Natsu. "Oh, you're so dead pal. Here, try my most powerful attack!" He clasped his hands together and then thrust one forward. "Shadow Orochi!" The shadows around his feet split off and burst forward, forming a multitude of snakes that charged at Natsu. "And don't bother running, my snakes will chase to the ends of the earth!"

Natsu merely grumbled in response. "Yeah, big talk!" Natsu splayed his hands out, collected fire around them and curled them into fists, and then slammed his hands together, causing a magic circle and fire to burst out before bringing his hands up in front of his mouth, right hand in front of his left and inhaled a large breath. "Fire Dragon Roar!" A magic circle appeared in front of him and a torrent of flames burst from it and engulfed Kageyama's Shadow Orochi, destroying the snakes and barreling towards him.

Kageyama stood frozen in place at the sight. "Ahh crap." He slammed through the wall from the force of the attack and collapsed unconscious on the other side.

Natsu sighed as Naruto, Erza, and Gray came into the room.

"Natsu!" Erza shouted. "Are you hurt?"

Natsu gave a thumbs up with a grin. "Nope, I'm fine. Can't say that for the other guy though."

"Other guy?"

The three turned and saw Kageyama lying on the ground. Naruto blinked and then exclaimed, "That's him!"

Erza immediately walked over to Kageyama and picked him up by the collar. "Now, you will dispel the Wind Wall outside, understand?"

Kageyama, who had been roused to consciousness by Erza's sudden action, nodded weakly. "Alright…I'll do it."

However, right at that moment, a magic circle appeared on the wall and a hand burst out, passing through Kageyama's chest bloodily.

Erza's eyes widened as the hand receded Karacka appeared nearby.

Karacka looked at the weakened form of Kageyama sadly. "S-sorry, Kageyama, it was…Byard's orders."

Naruto looked at the dying man and shouted at Karacka. "You bastard! He was your comrade, wasn't he?!"

Karacka shrunk back. "B-but…they were…my orders."

"Tch, then those are shitty orders! You don't kill a friend…" Naruto collected energy in his hand again as the small blue ball formed. He rushed towards Karacka and thrust the ball at him. "Rasengan!" The swirling sphere of chakra slammed into Karacka's chest and then burst, sending him flying through the wall.

Karacka laid on the floor twitching unconsciously.

Naruto then rushed over to Kageyama and looked him over before clapping his hands together.

Erza raised a confused eyebrow. "What are you going to do?"

"Save him. He's an enemy but right now we need his help to get out of this mess."

Gray looked at Naruto in disbelief. "Save him?! How? He's practically dead."

Naruto smirked. "A practically dead person is still alive, aren't they?" He then placed his hands over Kageyama's form and red energy sparked from around them both as the hole in Kageyama's chest began to shrink and heal, until only a round, scarred, circle was left.

Everyone present could only widen their eyes in shock at that.

Erza looked at Naruto in surprise. "How did you do that?"

Naruto stood up and wiped his knees off. "It's a long story, but there are lots of things I can do that are impossible." He then lightly tapped Kageyama's shoulder with his foot. "'Ey, wake up."

Kageyama winced for a moment before cracking his eyes open, then widening his and sitting up swiftly in surprise. "H-how…I should be dead…"

Erza motioned to Naruto. "You should thank him, he prevented you from dying."

Kageyama looked at Naruto confused and then hissed off to the side. "If you're expecting some form of gratitude from me forget it."

Naruto knelt back down and poked him in the head. "Not necessarily gratitude, but we _are_ expecting you to take down that barrier."

Kageyama opened his mouth to protest but Naruto interrupted.

Naruto smiled sweetly and had red energy sparking at his fingertips. "Or I could rearrange all your internal organs."

Kageyama sweat-dropped heavily. "Ahh…yeah…I'll help."

* * *

Elsewhere, Erigor flew over a large chasm within which a set of train tracks went through, Clover Canyon, the path leading towards the meeting hall of the Guild Masters. Erigor chuckled darkly as he overlooked the area. "Heh, heh, won't be long now, but the God of Death will purge the Light Guild Masters." He then flew off in another direction.

* * *

Back at the station, Naruto, Natsu, Erza, and Gray stood at the edge of the Wind Wall.

Naruto faced the dome and went through a series of hand signs. '_If this dome is really made of wind, then a flame attack should consume and dissipate it._' He inhaled a large breath, formed a circle with his index finger and thumb, placed it over his mouth, and then shouted, "Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" and exhaled a stream of fire that barreled towards the wall.

However, contrary to Naruto's expectations, the flames hit the wall, burst out some and then were extinguished as they hit it.

Naruto stopped the stream and snarled angrily. "You gotta be kidding me…that shoulda worked."

**'_We're dealing with mana, kid, its laws are different than chakra,_'** Ryuujin mentored.

"Damn…"

Erza adorned her Heaven's Wheel Armor and sent another attack at the wall. "Circle Sword!" The disc-like assembly of swords struck the wall and immediately collapsed and shattered. Erza returned to her normal armor and hissed in frustration.

Natsu shouted in agitation and rushed at the wall, using his flame-encased fists to beat on it repeatedly, to no avail.

"That's enough," Naruto warned and grabbed his scarf and pulled the pink-haired flame eater away from the edge of the wall.

Erza turned and tried to awaken Kageyama, whom had passed out on the way there. "This isn't working, if we don't do something swiftly it will be too late."

Natsu folded his arms in frustrated thought before realizing a possible plan. "Hey, Lucy!"

"Yeah?!" the blonde shouted in fearful surprise.

"Remember out last job, the one with Daybreak, or, something, and how I passed through the Spirit World?"

Lucy blinked and nodded slowly. "Yeah…and?"

Natsu smiled proudly. "Just call up one of Spirit guys and we can use it to get back and forth."

Lucy sighed in exasperation. "Humans going into the Spirit World is strictly forbidden, besides, the Gate opens in whatever location the Celestial Mage is, so it would be pointless anyway."

Natsu pouted nearby.

That gave Naruto an idea that he began formulating, his thoughts being interrupted when Happy shouted, "Ahah!"

The others flinched and Naruto and Lucy both shouted, "What was that for cat/What was that for cat, y'know!?"

"I remember what I was supposed to tell you back in the car!" Happy rooted around in his backpack and handed Lucy a fancy, golden key. "After the last job at Everlue's mansion, Virgo gave me her key and asked me to give it to you."

Lucy turned blue and looked at the key. "You mean…that big gorilla thing?"

Images of a huge, muscular maid with pink hair filled Lucy's mind.

Lucy then looked at Happy slightly disappointed. "While I'm happy to get a new key, especially a Zodiac Key, that won't do much for us right now."

Happy snickered proudly. "But you're forgetting, Virgo digs holes. We can have her dig a hole and get out _under_ the Wind Wall."

Lucy's eyes widened and she immediately hugged Happy. "Great thinking Happy!" Lucy picked up Virgo's key and looked at it intently. "I hope you can accept working out the contract later." She tossed the key in the air, causing it to spin, then swiped the key down, declaring, "Open, Gate of the Maiden, Virgo!"

The gate appeared and in a burst of smoke a young woman with a thin frame, short pink hair, blue eyes, who wore shackles on her wrists with chains hanging down, a black undercoat under a white, frill-trimmed apron, thigh-high, white stockings, and simple black shoes appeared.

Lucy, Natsu, and Happy looked at the girl puzzled, while Naruto looked at her surprised. '_S-Sakura…?_'

Ryuujin intervened, **'_Nahh…that ain't Sakura. This chick's actually got tits._'**

Naruto, unfortunately and instinctively, looked and moaned at his tenant's remarks. '_Just shut up._'

Lucy looked at her puzzled as well. "Uhm…who are you?"

The Celestial Spirit bowed gracefully and answered, "I am Virgo. You summoned me Master?"

"But, I thought you looked like a giant ape or gorilla."

"My appearance changes based on my master's preferences."

Natsu folded his arms in thought. "I kinda liked the big gorilla version."

In response a golden magic circle appeared under Virgo and she suddenly morphed into a form of a woman of extremely tall stature, with a slightly overweight build, with a brutish face and two small pigtails.

Naruto turned blue somewhat and Lucy shouted, "Change back! Change back!"

Virgo immediately reverted to her more petite appearance.

Lucy sighed in relief and then steeled herself. "Alright, Virgo. Right now I need your help, but I don't have time to make a contract, is that alright with you?"

Virgo nodded in return. "Whatever you wish Master."

Lucy sweat-dropped lightly. "Ehh, could you not call me Master? It feels weird."

"Then how about Milady?"

"No way!"

"Princess?"

Lucy rubbed her chin in thought and then grinned. "Princess sounds good."

Naruto and Happy face-faulted. "She's lost it."

Lucy nodded to herself, ignoring Naruto and Happy's insults, and pointed towards the Wind Wall. "Alright Virgo, I need you to dig a hole so we can get out of here!"

Virgo bowed in response. "As you wish, Princess."

"Heehee!" Lucy giggled to herself happily as Virgo sunk into the ground.

Erza turned to Kageyama in thought. "We need to bring him with us, but carrying him would be time-consuming."

Naruto nodded. "I'll handle it." He closed his left eye and his right eye morphed into his Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, before the iris and pupil of his eye turned black and a warping vortex spread out from the center, Kageyama being pulled into it.

The rest of the group gaped at Naruto's action, though he turned around and looked at them confused. "What? Is it something I said?"

* * *

The group finally made their way out of the Wind Wall through the hole Virgo dug, finding that despite calm winds inside, the winds outside the Wall were vicious.

In response, Virgo knelt down and pulled Lucy's skirt so it wouldn't blow in the wind, unaware or unconcerned with Naruto standing behind her with a bloody nose.

Once away from the torrential winds, Erza turned to the group. "We have to pursue Erigor, if we're lucky there's still time before he reaches the conference, but we'll need to catch up fast."

Naruto nodded and then thought, '_Hey, think you can give me the Rinnegan? I could use its flight abilities._'

**'_Hmm…I'd advise against that. You and I only spent about a decade training on your flight, and with how I've sealed most of your abilities it would be erratic at best._'**

'_Then just _unseal_ them._'

**'_Hahhh…it's not that simple. Your body within the mortal worlds outside of my dimension is different. It will age as time goes on, stopping eventually, and too much power flowing into it at once could erode your body very quickly. If I unseal all of your powers right now you'd go up like Deidara._'**

Naruto hissed in frustration. '_Damn…then I'll just have to take my chances._'

**'_…Alright then…but don't say I didn't warn you._'**

Naruto then turned to Erza. "I can chase him."

Erza looked at him curiously. "How?"

Naruto grinned. "I can fly."

Erza raised both eyebrows but then nodded. "Right. The rest of us will try to get to the conference, you worry about stopping Erigor."

Naruto nodded and activated his Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, which changed as purple rings expanded outward from his pupil, forming the Rinnegan. Naruto took in a deep breath and then used a small amount of chakra to push gravitational energy down, lifting himself up. "Heh, heh, this ain't so bad." He then pushed a lot of chakra out of his feet and took off like a rocket.

Lucy and the others blinked in curiosity.

Gray sighed and then motioned to where Naruto had blasted off to. "He's gonna crash into somethin', isn't he?"

The others nodded in agreement.

* * *

Naruto was busy rocketing off towards Erigor, uncontrollably. He was merely flying through the air at meteoric speeds. "Ahhh shit! How do I stop?!"

**'_I warned you…_'**

'_Stop patronizing me and help!_'

With an annoyed sigh, Ryuujin answered, **'_Force chakra out ahead of you, and push against your flight path, that should slow you down._'**

'_Erm…English, please._'

**'_Shoot chakra out of your head._'**

Naruto stopped suddenly. "Huh…this gunna hurt…isn't it?"

**'_Probably._'**

Naruto fell down with a large burst of dust and stones on the ground below. After taking a few moments to get his bearings he stood up and took off again. His flight was still at most uncontrollable speeds and wavering all over the place, but he eventually found where he needed to be, by finding Erigor floating up in the air. "Heeeyyy!"

Erigor blinked in confusion and turned around, his eyes almost bulging out of his head in surprise and confusion when Naruto came out of nowhere, body slammed him at very high speeds, and caused both of them to crash-land on the tracks below, hard.

Erigor stood up slowly and angrily. "Why you…wait. How did you Fairy Tail Flies escape my Wind Wall?"

Naruto stood up and wiped a small trickle of blood from his chin. "Heh, easy, we're just that awesome. Well…technically _they're_ that awesome, I'm not actually a member yet."

Erigor looked at Naruto confused and laughed hysterically. "Ahahahah! This is unbelievable! You're putting your life on the line and risking death to help a guild you're not even part of!? That's the most ludicrous thing I've ever heard!"

Naruto glared at Erigor and pulled a kunai out of his pack, getting into a battle stance. "It may seem crazy to you, but even though I've only known them a little while, they're still my friends."

"Is that so? Well, last I checked, don't your 'friends' have rules, such as don't involve civilians? You could be arrested for interfering with the actions of a Light Guild. Where would your friends be then?"

Naruto smirked. "I'm fine with that."

"Haah?" Erigor moaned in confusion.

"There's something a friend of mine used to say: Those who break the rules are considered scum," Erigor narrowed his eyes annoyed, "But those who would abandon their friends are worse than scum!"

Erigor hissed in frustration as he swung his scythe over his head. "Big talk from a boy using a mere dagger against my Deathscythe!"

Naruto smirked and put the kunai away. "You want me to use a real blade? Your funeral." He pulled out a piece of paper from his pouch, sunk some chakra into it, and a burst of smoke erupted from it.

Erigor looked at the plume confused, then widened his eyes some when it cleared and showed Naruto standing with a long, single-edge, cleaver-like sword with a hole near the top, an indentation near the base, a segmented handle, and a blade as tall as Naruto was.

Naruto looked at Erigor with a death glare. "Meet the Executioner's Blade."

Erigor smirked and raised his scythe. "Wow," he said mockingly, "this just got interesting."

* * *

**Well, that's it for chapter two. Tell me what you guys think in a review, hopefully you enjoyed it though.**

**"And of course, make sure to tell me how cute I am!"**

**Get out Lucy!**


	3. Debut of the Maelstrom

**Chapter III**

**Hello everybody! Yes, I know, it's been a little while since the last chapter. I decided to go ahead and put Final Reign on ice so that's why I was able to get this out even this fast, though its delay wasn't helped by the new story Chaos Pawn of the Gremory slithering its way into my brain. At any rate, check that out if you'd be so kind and leave a review, I'd also like to thank both of my coauthors for this story, Bakuto Masaki and seeker of true anime fan fic. Also, it seems people are still a little confused about the whole chakra to mana relation. Now, what I said before was that chakra is weaker than mana, but I didn't say all ninjas are weaker than all mages. For example, Wait What said that what I said meant Madara was weaker than Erigor. That's simply wrong, Madara would curb stomp Erigor. Madara would probably be about equal with Jose though since Jose _is_ one of the Ten Wizard Saints. Now, to simplify it: chakra is weaker than mana but that doesn't mean all ninjas are weaker than all mages. An S-Class mage would defeat pretty much all ninjas below Special Jonin level, and probably even them, but most regular mages would lose to most ninja above genin level. For example, Sasuke would be defeated by Natsu, but Natsu would be defeated by Itachi, so while in general chakra is weaker than mana, that doesn't mean all ninjas are weaker than mages, mages just have a natural edge. Now, on to the reviewer responses.**

**Wait What: I already answered the first part of your review so look up there for that part. Uhm...a mage is someone who uses magic, otherwise they aren't a mage. So yes, all mages can use magic. As for the bit about Erza, have you _seen_ Erza?! She is one scary lady and is extremely powerful. Plus, cliché or not, it's part of the story, everyone's scared of Erza, and that includes Naruto.**

**Star Iron: This is true, but you're also forgetting people like Hades, Zeref, Gildarts, hell, even Erza herself. They are all also capable, and have done so in the past, of changing the landscape with their powers. Plus, the weapons you're talking about, Jupiter and Etherion, would kill Hashirama and Madara and would pound all of the Tailed Beasts besides Ryuujin, and even he would get beat up a little. Sasuke was capable of producing everything Natsu could, in Part I? Where? I don't remember him being half as powerful as the Fire Dragon Slayer. Alright, I will compare one of the strongest dragons, Acnologia, to most of the Tailed Beasts. Against Acnologia, Shukaku, dead, Matatabi, dead, Isobu, dead, Goku, dead, Kokuo, dead, Seiken, dead, Choumei, alive but soon dead, Gyuki, heavily battered, Kurama, beat to crap but alive, Ryuujin, roughly even. I also specified that in the beginning of this story, Ryuujin has sealed off most of Naruto's powers. Meaning that as he is right now he is still weaker than Madara or most in the upper echelons of either the FT or Naruto world, he will get stronger as Ryuujin unseals more of his powers when he's ready for them and as he increases naturally in skill but his body just isn't capable of handling all that power at once in a real-world setting. Inside Ryuujin's exactly controlled and modified pocket dimension yes, but not in the real world where Ryuujin's influence is comparatively none.**

**Huh: Yes, but it's the few of those wizards who get the spotlight. The majority of wizards/mages use magic in a civilian setting, not a combat setting. However, as I'll reiterate again, mana is innately weaker than chakra. However, that is just the energy itself, the user is what's important. Now, Madara against Erigor, yeah, Erigor would lose so fast he wouldn't know what happened, but Erigor against, say, a low to mid jonin, they'd have trouble, still win but have trouble. In the end, most ninja are physically more powerful than most mages, that is true, but their powers are weaker. If Sasuke launched a Fireball Jutsu against an average fire blast, say, from Macao, his flames would be engulfed and destroyed. Or on the higher end of the power spectrum, Bluenote's gravity magic against Nagato's Almighty Push, Bluenote would utterly dominate him there.**

**Strife666: At least somebody did.**

**Mas2009: As I said before he is weakened because Ryuujin weakened him, he took away most of Naruto's powers since his body needs to acclimate to the world he's in before it can handle the load of power it'd get, so right now most of his powers aren't even there. Over time Ryuujin will unseal his powers but right now most of them are sealed for his own protection.**

**Jose19: There's actually quite a lot he did before Rise of the True Phoenix Dragon, in the Ryuujin Saga timeline of 2000 years, Rise is at about the 1900 mark, so there's almost 1900 years' worth of stuff before it.**

**Atsirk Enoh: I dare say you could.**

**shadowmaster0304: Sadly no, Kurama's mind and body has be reintegrated into Ryuujin. When need be Naruto can splice off a piece of Ryuujin's chakra to become Kurama but for the most part Kurama is gone.**

**Markus-Antonius: Eventually. However it is essentially a prequel to the entire Ryuujin Saga so I actually won't do that story until the rest of the saga is finished.**

**Daniel 49: Okay...and?**

**Guest: I thought it would be. Yes, in his original world Fullmetal Alchemist and Naruto (the show I'm referring to here) existed in the same world. It does explain his alchemy abilities. That's kinda how it'll be for a while until Naruto starts to really break out the big guns. But over time the development of the story will change until it veers off in an entirely different direction. The Executioner's Blade will be one of his main weapons in this story. Again, glad someone enjoyed it and I hope you keep reviewing.**

**REVANOFSITHLORD: No, she's from the Fullmetal Alchemist movie, Sacred Star of Milos, but Rave Master is a part of this story, as Haru, Elie, and Musica displayed.**

**Bakuto Masaki: Perhaps.**

**Mzr90: He is OOC a bit because he changed in the original story from where he shows up from, that prequel to the Ryuujin Saga I mentioned, and he's changed over the 200 year period of training. Lightningblade49: Susano'o is a possibility, but Gamabunta's dead, Naruto's entire universe, including the places where the Summon Beasts come from, was completely eradicated.**

**You Mad Bro: That is technically true, but there are just as few jutsus capable of destroying a village as there are spells. I can only think of a small handful of jutsus that could level a village, a similar number of spells that could also do the same. I actually do read and watch both the Naruto manga and anime. And Rasenshuriken is powerful but it is far, far from a village destroying technique, it has about as much power as Natsu's Brilliant Flame, a large attack for certain but not one powerful enough to destroy an entire village.**

**ExecutionerKain: Nope, no predecessor. At least not one I've written yet. The original world Naruto is from is a fusion of Fullmetal Alchemist and Naruto, hence the existence of Julia and Miranda. As for others like Haru, Elie, and Musica, they're from the anime Rave Master which is a sort of sister series to Fairy Tail, they even have periodic cameos in the manga and a full on crossover OVA in the anime.**

**Alright, I think that's it. Though it seems we managed to get away with no invaders this time, that's a relief.**

* * *

Erza, Gray, Lucy, Natsu, Happy, and Kageyama, with Natsu hanging out the side heaving, with Erza driving the whole group in a magic four-wheeler. As Erza drove, her driving become more erratic, one of the jostles stirred Kageyama from his unconsciousness. He looked around and realized where he was. He immediately tensed up and then groaned in pain, seeing the bandages all over his body, puzzled. He looked at the other Fairy Tail members and asked suspiciously, "Why did you let me live?" Narrowing his eyes he continued, "You're planning to use me as a bargaining chip, aren't you…?" He then sighed and shook his head. "That wouldn't work, Erigor doesn't care about anyone."

"You know," Gray interrupted, "if all you're lookin' for is death, just say the word."

Kageyama sneered at him, Lucy looking at him with slight disbelief as well.

Gray then turned to Kageyama and added, "But don't fool yourself into thinking everything comes down to a matter of life or death."

Kageyama looked at him surprised and confused, biting his lip in frustration.

The whole group then groaned as the four-wheeler jumped and jostled again.

Gray slammed his fist against the panel facing Erza angrily. "Hey! Watch it up there!"

Erza, who was busy driving the magic four-wheeler, strained as her vision blurred and concentration weakened. '_No…I've been using too much magical power. Damn…come on Naruto…take him down, swiftly._'

* * *

Naruto stood on the train bridge leading to Clover Town, opposite Erigor, the leader of the Dark Guild Eisenwald. Erigor holding his large Deathscythe and Naruto wielding the Executioner's Blade.

Erigor smirked as he looked at Naruto. "That's a pretty good sword you've got there. Let's see how it compares to my Deathscythe." Erigor then lunged forward, extending his scythe out for a wide strike.

Naruto ducked the blow and gripped his blade with both hands and lunged in towards Erigor, his wide swing seemingly leaving him open.

Erigor snickered and aimed his open hand at Naruto. "No use!" A burst of wind shot from his hand and sent Naruto flying back.

Naruto planted the Executioner's Blade on the bridge and slid back several feet before coming to a stop.

Erigor raised his scythe and then slashed across himself several times, sending large blades of wind flying at Naruto.

Naruto smirked and planted the Executioner's Blade on the ground and flashed through several hand signs. "Your wind is no good against fire." He then inhaled and placed his fingers in a ring over his mouth and exhaled as he shouted, "Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" Naruto then exhaled a stream of fire at Erigor's incoming attack.

Erigor merely chuckled dismissively. "You gotta be kidding me."

Naruto's eyes widened when the fireball was eliminated by the blades of wind. "What the…?!" Naruto dove to the side as the blades of wind passed over him. "What's going on?! My fireball should've consumed your wind blades."

Erigor snickered amused. "You must not understand magic very well. My wind puts out your fire, if you're so powerful you should've known that."

Naruto scowled in frustration.

**'_Like I said, the rules are different for magic than chakra,_'** Ryuujin added.

'_I see…this makes things annoying…_'

Erigor raised his arm in front of him and performed several gestures and then aimed his open palm at Naruto again, a large magic circle appearing in front of him.

Naruto raised the Executioner's Blade in front of him to defend against Erigor's attack, the scythe wielder merely smirking.

"Storm Bringer!" Erigor shouted.

Naruto felt the wind around him shift before a twister suddenly formed under him and engulfed him. The powerful cyclone and winds tossed him around inside and battered him from within its walls.

"Hahahah! Not too cocky now, are we Fairy Tail Fly?!"

Naruto groaned as he felt pain from the attacks and outstretched his hands to the sides, and then shouted, "Almighty Push!"

Erigor watched in confusion as his twister began to deform and shift at one point before bursting as Naruto used the gravity manipulating powers of the Rinnegan to break free of his spell. Erigor snickered as Naruto landed on the ground below, battered and his clothes torn.

Naruto breathed heavily as he righted himself. "Not bad…"

Erigor merely snickered before sending more blades of wind soaring at Naruto.

Naruto clapped his hands together and slammed them on the ground, a wall bursting up to absorb the impact. Naruto jumped above the wall and clapped his hands together before striking two kunai together.

An explosion suddenly erupted right next to Erigor. The white-haired wind user was knocked far to the side by the blast, though he managed to use a current of wind to stop himself from hitting a wall. Growling in frustration he swept his hand in front of him multiple times, causing a series of wind blades to fly straight for Naruto.

Naruto went through several hand signs and then swept his hands in front of himself as well. "Wind Style: Wind Blades!" A barrage of his own wind blades shot forth at Erigor's own attacks. Naruto was shocked when his blades of wind were engulfed and consumed by Erigor's, adding to the power of Erigor's wind blades, forcing Naruto to jump to the side as they crashed to the ground with even more force than before. "Grr, dammit! You gotta be kidding me!"

Erigor then rushed towards Naruto with his scythe readied.

Naruto sneered and stuck out his right hand. "Well…when in doubt, go with the basics." Energy began to swirl around him, centralizing on his hands.

As Erigor neared Naruto, the blonde jumped in the air, a swirling ball of blue energy formed in his right hand.

Erigor swung his scythe at Naruto, the blonde barely dodging to the side before thrusting the ball of energy right at Erigor's midsection, shouting, "Rasengan!" The ball of energy burst and sent Erigor flying back at the stone wall as Naruto landed on the rails nearby.

Erigor stood up and wiped the blood from his chin, sneering at Naruto. "You little punk. Looks like it's time for me to actually get serious." Erigor then stowed his scythe on his back, crossed his arms in front of him, and shouted, "Storm Mail!" Air and wind around him swirled and centered on his body, creating an armor of wind.

Naruto saw this and frowned in frustration. '_Well…this can't be good._'

Erigor, now covered in his Storm Mail, then launched forward like a twister, barreling towards Naruto.

Naruto's eyes widened at the speed with which Erigor moved. Naruto burst chakra from his feet to launch himself high into the air, causing Erigor to crash harmlessly into the ground.

"Heh, heh, bad move, fly." Erigor then launched up into the air with equally high speeds.

Naruto grit his teeth in frustration and lowered the Executioner's Blade in front of him, causing it to take the brunt of Erigor's attack. Unfortunately his aerial position was not stable enough for him to withstand the attack and he was thrown backwards. However, he did manage to land on the ground upright, skidding to a halt. Breathing heavily, he growled in thought. '_Shit. This guy's a lot tougher than I expected._' He then formulated a plan in his mind as Erigor launched himself towards Naruto again. As Erigor approached the blonde, his Storm Mail making him a living tornado, Naruto raised both hands and concentrated before swiping his hands down to the side.

Erigor grunted as an invisible force slammed into him from the side and sent him crashing into one of the stone walls nearby. However, he merely jumped out of the crater, his Storm Mail unscathed. "Heheh, not a bad play, Fairy Tail Fly. But unfortunately for you my Storm Mail is more resilient than that." Erigor then raised a hand as a magic circle appeared in front of him. "Storm Shred!" An onslaught of arrows made of wind shot from the magic circle and bared down on Naruto.

"Crap!" Naruto snarled as he raised both hands in front of him as the barrage impacted.

Erigor smirked underneath his armor as the dust cleared, and then raised an eyebrow. "Well, well. Seems you're not as weak as the normal fly."

Naruto stood in the center of a circular impact site where the Storm Shred had hit, the center circle where he stood being mostly untouched, though Naruto did have a few more injuries as well. '_Damn, my Fire Style and Wind Style are useless against this A-Hole. Wait…_that_ might work. Yeah…I'll need time to charge it though._' Naruto then raised his hands in a familiar sign as Erigor floated up into the air again. "Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!" A massive burst of smoke appeared on the train tracks.

Erigor looked at the burst puzzled before a small army of Naruto clones appeared and launched themselves at him. "What the…?!" As several passed by him, several others got close, Erigor swatting them down with his Storm Mail, causing them to burst into smoke when he did.

On the ground, the majority of the clones remained stationary, a few at a time launching up at Erigor to attack.

In the center of the mass, Naruto stood with his right hand outstretched, his left hand grasping it. Energy began to swirl and collect in the center of his hand, eventually forming into a Rasengan.

Erigor continued fighting Naruto's onslaught of clones before growling in annoyance and launching another Storm Shred, destroying a majority of them. "Damn fly, you just don't quit, do you?"

Naruto continued collecting energy into his Rasengan, however, as he collected more energy, the air around him began to shift and waver.

Erigor also noticed this as small portions of his Storm Mail began to vanish. "Wh-what the…?!"

Naruto smirked in response. "If I can't beat your Storm Mail, I'll just use it!"

Erigor snarled as he rushed towards Naruto, only to get blocked by a group of clones with Rasengans in their hands.

"Ninja Art: Rasengan Barrage!" the clones shouted in unison.

"Storm Shred!" Erigor announced as another volley of wind bullets destroyed the clones. It was at that moment that almost all of Erigor's shield vanished. He then looked down and heard a high-pitched ringing noise, its origin making his eyes widen in shock.

Naruto's Rasengan had been surrounded by a giant spinning shuriken made purely of wind energy. Naruto smirked and then launched himself into the air, a group of clones launching ahead of him.

Erigor attempted to knock Naruto out of the air with another Storm Shred but the clones absorbed all of his shots, allowing Naruto to get in close and slam the giant shuriken into Erigor as he shouted, "Wind Style: Rasenshuriken!"

Naruto launched both Erigor and the Rasenshuriken away, slamming both into the rock wall on the opposite side of the canyon as the shuriken shrunk into the Rasengan, the result being a massive Rasengan-like burst of energy outward that consumed and eradicated all of the stone within it, Erigor shouting in pain as he felt his body being sliced at by the spinning chakra within.

Naruto landed on the railway below and slid to a stop as the ball of chakra dispersed and Erigor fell to the ground, seemingly unconscious. Naruto sighed in relief and then looked around at the railway. "Huh…guess I should probably fix this, shouldn't I?"

**'_Probably wouldn't hurt,_'** Ryuujin responded.

Naruto clapped his hands together and then slapped them onto the ground, red energy bursting out from his hands and across the railway as all of the damage caused by his battle with Erigor repaired itself.

A few moments later, the magic four-wheeler with Erza and the others arrived to see the end result of Naruto fixing the damage, and then to see Erigor lying on the ground nearby, defeated.

Kageyama's eyes nearly fell out of his head when he saw Erigor lying in a heap unconscious. He then looked at Naruto, laughing happily as the others congratulated him. '_N-no way…this kid…he defeated…Erigor…?_'

"Good work Naruto," Erza offered, "I'm also glad to see you did without causing much damage."

Naruto shrugged with a weak chuckle. "I uh…know my way around the battlefield."

After the group spoke for a few moments, Kageyama looked at the side of one of the seats and saw the Lullaby sitting there, before looking back up at Erigor.

As they continued to speak, Naruto suddenly freaked out and jumped to the side, the others following suit as Kageyama sped by, having stolen their magic four-wheeler.

"Hey, get back here!" Natsu ordered.

"Shouldn't you be happy he took, Mr. Motion Sickness?" Lucy asked derisively, getting a face-fault from the pink-haired fire-breather.

* * *

As Kageyama drove off, he thought, '_Erigor might've failed to wipe out the Guild Masters, but I won't._'

* * *

Naruto and the others could only stand in awe at Kageyama's brash action before Erza grit her teeth and ordered, "Alright, we have to chase after him! Move!"

"Right!" the others all responded in unison.

* * *

Kageyama eventually abandoned the magic four-wheeler when the terrain became too crowded with trees and made his way through the forest towards the Guild Master Conference. Upon seeing it, he smirked proudly and removed the flute from his pocket to prepare playing it.

However, right when he was about to he heard rustling behind him and stowed the flute behind him, turning to take out whoever was interrupting him.

To his confusion it was Makarov, whom he recognized as nothing more than a little old man, wandering around reading an issue of Sorcerer Magazine.

Makarov, who was busily reading the magazine with a perverse grin, didn't notice Kageyama standing there, and then when he did, hurriedly shoved the magazine behind him and began stammering all over himself with excuses, Kageyama just looking at him puzzled.

However, after listening to Makarov's stammering for a few moments he concluded the old man was just stupid and decided to try and trick him. "Actually, I was hoping you could help me with something."

Makarov stopped for a moment and then looked at Kageyama curiously. "Alright, what is it?"

"I was planning on playing this song for the Guild Masters, but, I seem to be getting cold feet. Do you think you could allow me to play it for you, then you can tell me what you think?"

Makarov folded his arms in thought and then nodded with a smile. "Sure sonny, go ahead."

Kageyama brought the Lullaby up to his mouth to play, however, right when he was about to, he remembered his one-time allies who had encouraged the Lullaby Plan, now all of them captured by the Council. He then remembered the words Lucy and Gray said to him in rebuke of his wish for death.

* * *

Nearby, Naruto and the others finally arrived to see Kageyama over by Makarov.

Natsu and Naruto prepared to rush forward to take down Kageyama, but were stopped when Bob stepped in their path.

Naruto paled at the sight of the creature before him. '_What the hell is that?!_'

"Oh my!" Bob exclaimed ecstatically. "You must be one of Fairy Tail's newest members!" he said specifically towards Naruto.

Naruto paled when Bob smiled at him.

"You _are_ a handsome one, I can't believe Makarov didn't tell us about you!"

Naruto sweat-dropped and answered weakly, "I, uh…just…joined…recently."

Bob then turned his attention to Natsu and Gray, the duo feeling quite unfortunate at garnering it.

Lucy could only watch in slight despair. '_Th-this guy…is the Guild Master for Blue Pegasus…?_'

Goldmine then walked over and tapped Lucy on the shoulder, also gaining the attention of the others. "Just watch. I'm sure Makarov can handle this situation."

The others nodded in puzzled agreement and watched Makarov.

* * *

Kageyama clenched his fists as he debated his actions. '_All I need to do is play one, single song, and everything will change. Everything will be different…_'

Makarov then remarked, "This won't change anything."

Kageyama's eyes widened as he registered Makarov's words.

"Using that flute to kill people won't accomplish anything. It can't change the fact that humans are weak, however, that we _are_ weak is a good thing, I think. It's the reason why things like guilds even exist. When you're surrounded by friends and family who all care for each other, you can even out, or even overcome, your own weakness."

Kageyama's eyes widened as he took in what Makarov said, before dropping the flute and falling to his knees. "I…surrender…"

"He did it!" Lucy cheered happily.

"Way to go Gramps!" Natsu offered as he and the others ran over to him.

Naruto looked at Makarov thoughtfully and then smirked. '_Well, Gramps, looks like I've found someone just like you, eh?_' Images of an old man with a red and white, pointed hat filled his mind as he shook his head and joined in with the other Fairy Tail members.

However, as they rejoiced, Naruto suddenly felt a very powerful, dark energy fill the air.

**"You pathetic humans! If you can't do anything, then I'll just do it myself!"**

It was then that everyone watched as the three eyes of the Lullaby lit up bright violet before tendrils and limbs of wood stretched out in every direction.

"Move!" Naruto shouted as everyone scattered away.

Then, a gargantuan, demon-like creature made of wood stood above the crowd of gathered wizards.

"Whoa! What is that?!" Natsu shouted.

Erza growled in frustration as she looked upon the beast. "It's Lullaby's true form."

Naruto gulped as he looked at it. "Wow, that's even bigger than Son."

"Son?"

Naruto sweat-dropped. "Ahh…nevermind…"

As Lullaby looked around, it roared with a loud bellow. **"You pathetic weaklings! I swear I'll devour the soul of every human here! You will all perish to my song!"** Lullaby then turned to a mountain nearby and opened its maw, energy collecting and forming into a magic circle, a massive beam of energy shooting from the circle and annihilating a large portion of the mountain.

The Rune Knights, who had arrived to help, turned and fled away from the towering behemoth, leaving the mages to deal with it themselves.

Natsu glowered at the monster and pounded his fists together. "This thing's gonna pay for that!"

Erza nodded in agreement as her body was illuminated in bright, golden light before her normal attire was replaced by a new armor with her hair tied up in a long ponytail, the armor itself being composed of a neck guard that decorated with silver as well as multiple gems, along with two black shoulders guards with silver edges, overlapping each other on each shoulder, with silver crosses on them and flanking the collar of the armor, reminiscent of a dress, the breastplate having silver edges and revealing much of Erza's cleavage and abdomen, a series of plates flanking her sides and hips which reached down to the armor's very large skirt armor, which itself was composed of long, silver-edged plates shaped like feathers and adorned with silver, cross-like markings, the waist armor also leaving much of the of the front of lower body exposed, a black bikini-like cloth covering her, as well as slim gauntlets with silver patterns, and leg armor that was silver-edged at her hips and jet black on her greaves. "Requip: Black Wing Armor!"

Gray, as usual, threw off his shirt in preparation to fight the monstrosity.

Naruto unsealed the Executioner's Blade and then thought for a moment. '_I'm probably going to need something more powerful, aren't I?_'

**'_Suggestions?_'** Ryuujin asked curiously.

'_Yeah, I got a few…_' Naruto smirked as he resealed the Executioner's Blade. He then turned to Erza and the others. "Hey, think you can grab that thing's attention for a few minutes?"

Erza looked at him curiously and nodded. "Yes, we can keep it busy."

Naruto nodded in agreement and then formed his favorite hand sign. "Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Another large group of clones then burst into existence.

Erza looked at him shocked. '_He already used that spell back at the station multiple times, along with chasing and fighting Erigor…just how much power do you have…?_'

All of the clones, plus Naruto himself, then stuck out both of their hands to either side as energy began to collect in it.

Erza looked at him curiously once more but then redirected her attention to Lullaby. "Alright, Natsu, Gray, let's go!"

"Right!" the two answered in unison.

"Hey! What about me?!" Happy and Lucy added angrily.

Gray prepared to attack Lullaby with the others, slamming his right fist into his open left palm, ice forming in the air with it, before thrusting his hands forward and shouting, "Ice-Make Lance!"

Natsu also prepared an attack, slamming both fists together, a magic circle appearing before them, taking in a large breath, and then placing his fists in front of his mouth, right fist in front of the left, and exhaled as a magic circle appeared in front of his hands, shooting a torrent of flames, "Fire Dragon Roar!"

The two attacks slammed into Lullaby heavily, causing the behemoth to slide back quite a bit, backing into the Guild Master Meeting Hall.

**"You pathetic maggots!"** Lullaby moaned as it charged another blast of energy.

However, as it was about to attack, Erza flew high into the air, dual-wielding swords, and then rushed past Lullaby with her swords crossed, slicing through it, shouting, "Moon Flash!"

Lullaby shouted in pain as her attack slashed through it.

"Naruto!" Erza shouted as she looked down at Naruto and his clones, her eyes widening at what she saw.

Lullaby turned as well and looked at him in disbelief.

Naruto and all of his clones had jumped into the air, each of them holding a supersized Rasengan in each hand. As the entire group barreled down on the wooden monstrosity, Naruto and his clones shouted in unison, "Ninja Art: Massive Rasengan Mega Barrage!"

The sheer concussive force of the multitude of blasts combined with the release of great amounts of destructive energy bored through all of the damage caused by Erza and the others, tearing Lullaby into pieces as a huge shockwave of energy burst out in all directions.

Lucy, Makarov and the others could only look in shock.

"Holy cow, I was sure he was powerful after that battle at the station, but this is just too much," Lucy remarked in amazement.

Makarov sweat heavily and worried. '_Oh no…not another super destructive idiot…_'

The clones all burst into smoke as the assault ended, Naruto falling to the ground along with Lullaby, which had been returned to its normal state.

Naruto groaned as he hit the ground with a thud, before grunting when Lullaby fell on his head and snapped in two. He looked at the broken flute puzzled. "Uhm…I broke it…" He attempted to put the two broken halves back together, to no avail. However, he noticed that as he fiddled with it, something fell out. He blinked in curiosity and picked up the strange object, a strange golden key with a spade-tip and a purple object coiling around it. Looking at it puzzled Naruto merely shrugged and stuffed the object into his equipment pouch.

"Naruto!" Natsu shouted as he and the other Fairy Tail members ran up to him. "That was awesome!"

Naruto just grinned happily. "Yeah…it was pretty cool wasn't it?"

"I wanna be able to make copies like that!"

Gray and Lucy kicked him simultaneously, shouting, "One Natsu is enough!"

"Ooowww…you guys…"

Lucy sighed and then looked at Lullaby and sweat-dropped. "Uhh, Naruto…it's kinda broken…"

Naruto laughed weakly. "Yeah, it broke when it hit me on the head…"

"Geez! How hard is that head of yours?!"

Makarov then walked up to Naruto and took the broken flute. "Honestly, I say it is better to have something with such evil power no longer usable. Today showed us what it could do in the wrong hands. I'd hate to think what would've happened if one of the stronger Dark Guilds had managed to find it instead of merely Eisenwald."

Naruto looked at Makarov in disbelief. "Wait…so these guys…were just a _mere_ Dark Guild?"

Makarov nodded solemnly. "Yes, there are Dark Guilds out there with much more power than Eisenwald."

"True as that may be," one of the other Guild Masters remarked as he walked up to Makarov and the others, then pointed to the Guild Master Meeting Hall, or rather, its remains, "I'd say you lot are just as destructive."

Makarov gulped. "Oh boy."

Naruto stood up and put up a hand. "I can fix this!"

Makarov looked at Naruto in disbelief. "How could you fix something like this?"

Naruto just grinned. "Watch me."

Naruto turned to face the rubble of the meeting hall and then took in a breath and clapped his hands together before slamming them on the ground, resulting in all present to look at him confused. Red energy then sparked from his hands and made its way towards the destroyed building as all of the rubble seemed to vanish as though torn apart by the energy before being rebuilt completely, no damages visible.

Everyone stopped and looked at the rebuilt structure amazed.

Makarov, however, grinned deviously. '_With this kid around, I may be able to avoid the Council's wrath completely!_'

Lucy and the others looked at his handiwork impressed as well.

Naruto sighed in relief before groaning and stumbling to one side. However, before he hit the ground, something caught him. He looked to the side and saw Natsu holding him up by the arm.

"Way to go man! Now we don't have to be so careful when we fight!"

Naruto just laughed weakly while Makarov slumped to his knees.

'_Nooo…with this kid around I'll be facing even _more_ of the Council's wrath!_' Makarov shouted despondently in his mind.

The other Guild Masters thanked Fairy Tail for their help, Makarov silently happy and anxious simultaneously at Naruto's contribution, before the members of Fairy Tail made their way back towards Magnolia.

* * *

The group had only walked a short way towards Magnolia when a low rumbling sound was heard.

Everyone stopped and looked around puzzled, before everyone turned to Natsu.

Natsu merely groaned tiredly. "So…hungry…"

Lucy then felt her own stomach rumble. "Oh man…we haven't eaten since we were on that train ride to Oshibana." Lucy then glared at Natsu. "Thanks Natsu! I didn't even realize I was hungry until you had to go and say something about it!"

Natsu just looked off to the side. "I can't help that I'm hungry," he mumbled.

One after the other everyone else's stomachs rumbled as well.

Makarov chuckled happily. "Well, I guess we'll just need to take a break, you've got some food in your backpack, right Happy?"

Happy sat down nearby digging through the pouch he normally carries on his back, before turning to Makarov and shaking his head despondently.

Makarov froze. "Well…this does present a problem. We need to find some food!" he shouted frantically.

Naruto waved a hand at the frantic group. "It's not a problem, I carry lots of extra food with me."

"Why didn't you say that before!?" they all shouted angrily.

"Yeesh, don't need to yell…"

Naruto sat down and pulled out a few scrolls from his pouch and unrolled them, unsealing some of the food inside.

The others could only look longingly at the large display of food.

Naruto smiled happily and motioned to all the items. "I've got plenty so go ahead and just…" he paused as everyone had already begun eating, "…dig in…well that was rude…"

* * *

The group finished their meal shortly thereafter, and continued on their trek.

However, Lucy noticed something strange while they, Natsu, Lucy, Erza, Gray, Makarov, and Happy, were eating, she didn't see Naruto eating. Holding onto her curiosity for a time, she decided to pursue it after several minutes of silence.

Naruto turned when he noticed the light tap on his shoulder. "Hm, you're…Lucky, right?"

Lucy gained a tic mark and shouted, "Lucy you idiot!"

Naruto nodded in understanding, ignoring her shouting. "So…need something?"

Lucy sighed and nodded. "Yeah, I was just wondering, why didn't you eat with the rest of us?"

Naruto sweat lightly and answered, "Ah…well…I uh…already…ate…on the way here…"

Lucy tilted her head in confusion. "Really? When?"

Naruto silently groaned in frustration. "Well…"

"What is that!?" Natsu suddenly shouted.

Naruto sighed shortly before they all ran to where Natsu had shouted. "What's wrong?!"

They all looked down and saw what appeared to be a giant, multi-limbed, monster coming out of the ground in a small canyon.

Naruto then focused and pointed to the canyon, where two people were being held in the grip of the monster's tendrils.

One was a teenage boy with thick eyebrows, and round, black eyes with prominent lower lashes, sporting black hair in a bowel cut, wearing a green jumpsuit with orange leg warmers, bandages around his wrists stood from his attack and rewound the bandages on his wrists, the other was a muscular man with black hair in a bowl cut with very prominent, thick eyebrows wearing a green jumpsuit, orange striped leg warmers, an unzipped, green, flak jacket and a red headband like Naruto's wrapped around his waist like a belt.

Naruto's eyes widened when he saw them.

He and Lucy then shouted in unison, "Lee! Gai!"

Lee, the teen, shouted happily as he saw the group. "Ah! Lucy! Wait…is that…Naruto?!"

"No, Lee! Your sadness at this monster extinguishing your flames of youth is hallucinations," Gai, the man, rebutted.

However, both became silent when Naruto appeared in a burst of smoke over the monster and threw eighteen kunai, each with special tags attached to the ends, in every direction down at the monster before forming a single hand sign. "Shadow Kunai Jutsu!" The eighteen kunai he threw then turned into ninety, the near endless barrage of kunai impacting the monster all over and exploding in a massive blast, the parts of the monster holding Lee and Gai dropping as they were blown off.

That seemed to present a new problem as the duo were sent down to the beast's maw, but Naruto waved his arms up and shouted, "Almighty Push!" using the power of his Rinnegan to send the two safely to the outcropping above the monster. He then folded his arms after a moment with a thoughtful expression. "I really didn't think this through…" Naruto then began to plummet straight down towards the monster. "Gwaugh!" Naruto grunted as he slammed into something hard and cold. He looked to the side and saw Gray crouching down, his hands placed on the ground at the end of a long bridge made of ice.

Gray smirked in confidence. "Like my Ice-Make Bridge?"

Naruto nodded in agreement dumbly.

Gray gained a tic mark and shouted, "Don't just sit there!"

Naruto looked down and ran towards the others as the large creature attempted to capture him. Jumping and diving to the ground at the last second, Naruto sighed in relief. "Heheheh…thanks…Gray…"

Gray sighed and then looked at the large monster before them. He then looked at Lee and Gai. "So, mind explaining where this thing came from?"

He was ignored as Lee and Gai merely looked at Naruto in shock.

"N-Naruto…?" Lee asked in disbelief.

Naruto responded with a grin. "Hey, Lee."

Lee then did what Naruto expected him to do, jumped up and wrapped his arms around him in a tight hug. "Narutooo!"

Naruto groaned at the green-clad teen's impressive grip. "Ah…it's…good to see you too…Lee."

Lee pulled back, anime tears streaming down his face. "Naruto…it's so good to see you my friend!"

Gai then walked over and put a hand on Lee's shoulder. "I think that's enough Lee."

As Lee released Naruto, Gai immediately gave him a bear hug, resulting in the blonde passing out from the strain.

"Ah! Naruto!" Lucy shouted worriedly as the spiky-haired ninja's head slumped over.

Gai released the blonde-haired teen, who managed to come back to consciousness fairly quickly, and was about to express his own happiness at seeing the green-clad duo again, when a loud, bellowing roar reminded them that they had more pressing matters.

Everyone turned around as the monster continued bellowing.

Naruto looked at Gai and Lee incredulously. "So, uh…how'd _that_ happen?"

Lee cried anime tears. "Gai-Sensei and I were just so hungry! Then we found this town and then there was that big monster!"

Naruto sighed in resignation. "So…anybody have any clue what the hell that thing _is_?"

Makarov turned to Gai and Lee. "What can you tell me about how it appeared?"

Gai nodded and reported, "Lee and I were wandering the area looking for something to eat when we found this village, or rather, what used to be a village."

Lee nodded in agreement, his mouth watering. "There was so much yummy food there!"

Gai nodded slowly as well, his stomach grumbling. "Yes, but there were no people in the village, which I felt to be strange. So I decided it was best we investigate. And I found what appeared to be unusual cracks all over the village's surface, specifically on the roads. And then, suddenly, the cracks began to shine, the village began to melt, and then these monsters appeared."

Makarov nodded in thought as he looked at the creatures. "I see. My guess…is that this is the result of a Dark Guild that attempted to create monsters for their own use, only to have the spell backfire on them."

Naruto grit his teeth in frustration and asked, "So how do we deal with it? I don't think just running in and destroying them would work, would it?"

Lee and Gai looked at Naruto curiously for his rather astute judgment.

Makarov shook his head. "No. If I'm correct, then the villagers _are_ the creatures, and we'd be killing them by destroying the monsters."

Erza then came up with an idea. "What if try and close the magic circle creating the monsters?"

Makarov nodded in agreement. "That's what I was considering. But someone would need to physically touch it to do so, and the danger of that is being turned into another one of those creatures."

Gai then stood in front of Makarov and bowed. "As the one who caused this problem, I will take that chance."

Makarov attempted to rebut his statement, but he was interrupted by Lee, who looked at Gai seriously. "No, Gai-Sensei! You can't! I'm the one that was foolish enough to touch the circle!"

Gai stood up and turned to Lee, putting his hands on his mini-me's shoulders. "No…Lee. I have lived a full life. Your Flames of Youth must still burn on into the future."

"Oh no!" Naruto, Gray, Natsu, and Erza shouted, Lucy confused.

Lee looked at Gai with anime tears streaming down his face. "Gai-Sensei!"

"Lee!"

"Gai-Sensei!"

"Lee!"

"Gai-Sensei!"

"Lee!"

The two then embraced in a passionate hug as their environment changed to that of a rocky shoreline with a setting sun on the horizon, over the sea, the waves crashing dramatically behind them.

Everyone else present felt their retinas burn as the image ingrained itself permanently onto their memories.

Soon enough the two pulled away and looked to see their friends collapsed on the ground nearby.

"Ah!" Lee shouted in shock. "Are you guys alright?!"

Naruto stood up and retorted, "What do you think?! That weird genjutsu is deadly!"

Gai and Lee blinked in confusion, looked at each other, and then looked at Naruto. "Genjutsu?" they asked in unison.

Naruto twitched an eyebrow. '_Is this like the "stupid people don't realize they're stupid" type thing?_'

**'_More or less,_'** Ryuujin answered.

'_I…I see…_' Naruto then sighed and looked down at the monsters before turning to Makarov. "So, how does one go about deactivating a magic circle?"

Makarov looked Naruto curiously, narrowing his eyes suspiciously before answering plainly, "Pretty simple actually. You touch it, flow a little of your own mana into it, and then pull back. That disrupts the flow of mana in the circle itself and causes it to fall apart." Makarov then looked at Naruto with a curious gaze. "Why do you ask?"

Naruto shrugged. "I just figure I could do it. Saves you guys the trouble and I get to look cool."

Makarov looked at Naruto almost in disbelief and then laughed loudly. "Well, I suppose I can't argue with that logic! Haha!" Makarov calmed himself and then added, "Just be careful not to do anything stupid. I don't want to have to go down there and do it meself. I _am_ an old-timer after all."

Naruto laughed weakly and then ran off the edge of the small cliff and jumped down, activating his Rinnegan when he reached the bottom.

He then approached the magic circle the monster was forming from, as said monster attempted to grab and hit him, all of its attacks passing through him.

He eventually reached the circle and looked around. '_Well…this thing is sure a lot bigger up close. And a lot smellier too._'

**'_That's what you get with big ugly monsters,_'** Ryuujin remarked lazily.

'_…Pot…_'

**'_Huh…?_'**

Naruto merely sighed in exasperation and then narrowed his eyes at the monster. '_Okay, I'm only going to have one shot at this._' Reaching a hand down he placed it just above the edge of the magic circle, since touching it in his current state was impossible. He then immediately deactivated his Rinnegan, pressed his finger against the magic circle, rushed mana into it, and then yanked back. This caused the magic circle the monster formed from to waver and then shatter, as light scattered across the area as the monster vanished.

Moments later, after the light died down, everyone saw that the village had returned to normal and the monster had disappeared, the people of the village having returned.

The villagers looked around the area puzzled and confused, before seeing Naruto standing in front of them.

One of the people walked forward and asked, "What…happened to us…?"

Before Naruto could answer, Makarov, whom had traveled down with the others, asserted, "You had been Taken Over by the very beast you created."

The people heard what he said and frowned with varying degrees of guilt.

Makarov then folded his arms and sighed. "Well…we're rather busy today, so if you swear to never do something like this again, we won't report you to the Magic Council."

The apparent leader of the group walked forward and bowed to Makarov. "We swear, we will never do something like that again."

Makarov smiled happily and chirped, "Good! Now, let's get going Fairy Tail, back to the guild!"

The others cheered happily as they followed him.

* * *

After a short walk, Lee and Gai shouted in unison, "We're still hungry!"

Naruto chuckled at the two of them. "Don't worry, I've got you guys covered."

They looked at him shocked and excited.

Naruto unsealed another selection of food for the duo, and before he could even finish setting it up the two dug in like animals. Naruto even counted his fingers to make sure he had them all.

* * *

At the same time, in a different place, a group of people stood suspended over a large Magic Circle.

As they discussed different topics, one voice spoke up. "Are you not concerned with the recent rise in the number of Dark Guilds as of late?"

Another voice added, "Naturally, Michello."

Michello answered, "I would say not, as you have not put forth many ideas on how to solve the issue, Belno."

Soon it descended into arguments until one member, a young man with short blue hair, a red, tribal tattoo encompassing his right eye, wearing a long white tunic with black stripes across the edges and on the upper part of his arms, a decorated collar, large straps connected to decorated buckles, and matching pants and shoes, spoke up in a calm voice. "Now, now. I think we all should take in to consideration one group that _has_ been effective with dealing with the Dark Guilds, Fairy Tail."

Another member, a tall, grey-haired, elderly man with a considerably long beard and a mustache, pointed ears, and thin dark eyes, one of which he kept closed, who wore multiple layers of intricate robes and a bat-like adornment on his head, snapped at the other. "Siegrain, don't give such good will to those destructive fools! There is no point in taking down Dark Guilds if they cause just as much, if not more, damage than the Dark Guilds themselves!"

The now named Siegrain folded his arms with a confident smirk. "Now, now, Org, I think even you can agree that as…_reckless_, as they may be, Fairy Tail is an invaluable asset in dealing with the Dark Guilds."

Org narrowed his one open eye at Siegrain. "I'd be careful with your words, Siegrain. You are a newcomer to the Council, so keeping yourself from showing too many dissenting opinions could land you excised, not that I would find such a case painful."

"I think Siegrain has a point, actually," a pale-skinned woman with long purple hair that reached her waist and brown eyes wearing a short, white kimono with long sleeves, an orange obi, and simple black sandals responded, supporting Siegrain's words.

"Ultear, you should also watch your words," Org responded shortly.

Another council member, a very broad man with a large bushy beard knotted into a bun on either side, a snub nose, drowsy eyes, and a small bun of hair atop his head, who wore a robe he kept tightly shut over a black undershirt, a dark-cuffed coat with a diamond pattern over that, and a dark cape of sorts over his shoulders with a spade-pattern, spoke to Org. "Now, I think that's enough arguing, Org, Siegrain. While I do understand reasoning for them dealing with Dark Guilds so…'effectively,' Siegrain, I must agree with Org that they cause quite a bit of damage."

Org smirked lightly while Siegrain frowned in annoyance.

"However, Org, I think that you hold some resentment towards them, as they are not a true threat to us."

This time it was Siegrain who smirked as Org frowned.

Siegrain then added, "To prove my point, look at this recent Eisenwald incident. What if we had our way and Fairy Tail had not been present? True, there would have been less property damage but the Guildmasters would have been killed, and that would put the blame on _our_ heads."

Org snarled back, "That does not change the fact that there _was_ property damage, to an excessive extent!"

Belno sighed in frustration and then offered, "In that case, why not give them some form of punishment? We must still keep our power in balance."

Siegrain thought for a moment and then nodded. "I accept that."

The large man nodded and asked, "All in favor?"

There was a collective response in the affirmative, although one member gave a troubled expression.

* * *

Back with Fairy Tail, the group finally arrived at the edge of Magnolia Town.

"Yahoo!" Natsu and Lee shouted in unison. "We're almost home!"

The two of them immediately took off running towards the city, leaving Makarov and Gai to laugh proudly.

"I suppose their Flames of Youth are both burning brightly," Gai remarked.

Naruto then interjected, "I think if Natsu's Flames of Youth burn any brighter he'll burn the whole place down."

Gai didn't seem to hear him as the group continued venturing towards the city.

* * *

As they entered the limits of the town, Lucy waved at the group and remarked, "I'll see you guys later! I need to head home!"

Naruto and the others waved as she ran off.

Naruto then raised an eyebrow curiously. "Where does Lucy live exactly?"

Natsu looked at confused. "You haven't been there already?"

Naruto sweat-dropped. "Ehh…no…she hasn't invited me…"

"Bahh, why wait to be invited? I go there all the time!"

Naruto looked at Natsu in disbelief. "Uhm…that's an invasion of privacy, dontcha think?"

Erza looked at Naruto with a confused look. "I wouldn't think so. It is natural for friends to check on one another occasionally."

"You…do at least knock…don't you?"

As they approached the main guildhall Natsu merely chuckled. "Naah, Mira has an extra key she lets us use."

Naruto blinked curiously. "Come to think of it…I don't think I've properly met Mirajane yet…"

Makarov raised an eyebrow curiously. "That so?" He then smiled cheekily. "You really should, she's a lovely lady, heehee…"

Naruto laughed weakly in thought. '_Great…he really is like Pervy-Sage._'

* * *

Soon the entire group arrived at the guildhall when Natsu turned to Erza. "Alright! You promised, so now it's time for our rematch, Erza!"

Naruto could only flinch in shock. "S-seriously…? There gonna fight here?"

Makarov stood beside Naruto chuckling. "Nah, not here. There's actually a designated area where we Fairy Tail members are allows to duke it out. That's where they'll go."

Erza looked at Natsu and smirked. "Very well Natsu. It's time for our rematch then."

Makarov then looked around before turning to Naruto. "I think Lucy will want to see this, why don't you go and get her?"

Naruto nodded but then answered, "I don't know where she lives."

"It's alright," a voice responded.

Naruto looked up as Mira walked over to him. '_Wow…she really is pretty._'

Mira handed him a key and told him the directions to Lucy's house.

Naruto merely looked at it incredulously. "Ahh, why do you have a key to Lucy's house?"

Mira smiled sweetly and answered, "Just run along, we don't want her to miss the fun, do we?"

Naruto laughed weakly and then took off with the directions Mira gave him.

* * *

Naruto made his way towards where he heard Mira tell him and saw what he presumed was Lucy's home, an apartment building on the edge of Magnolia's large river which cut through the center of the city.

Jumping down from his perch atop a light post he reached the ground and knocked on the front door.

It was then that the door opened and revealed an old, overweight, angry, old woman who gave Naruto a death stare.

'_Scary!_'

"Whaddya want, kid?" the woman asked angrily.

"I'm, uh, from Fairy Tail…I'm here to see Lucy," he answered timidly.

She looked at him incredulously. "You sure? Most o' you Fairy Tail nuts just barge on in here anyway."

"Well, sorta. Not an official member yet." '_Which reminds me, I need to see if I'm actually allowed to join the damned guild._'

**'_Way to go Captain Oblivious,_'** Ryuujin poked.

The woman stared Naruto down for several seconds before turning to the side. "She's in apartment seven. Only reason I'm lettin' you in is because you're not as rude as those other brats."

Naruto bowed lightly before making his way up the stairs towards Lucy's apartment.

Approaching the door he knocked a few times.

* * *

Inside the room, Lucy heard the knocking and blinked to herself puzzled, putting down the pen she had been using to write with. "A visitor? It can't be one of the others, they're not this polite." After hearing another set of knocks she hollered, "Coming!"

Unlocking the door she looked out surprised to see Naruto standing in the doorway. "Oh, Naruto. What is it?"

"Makarov wanted me to come and fetch you, Natsu and Erza are about to begin their rematch, apparently."

"What?! Here in the city?!"

Naruto sighed heavily. "Yeah, that was kinda the response I had."

"Guess you'll need to keep that earth magic on hand for this one, huh?" Lucy asked with a worried smile.

Naruto blinked curiously. "Earth…magic?"

Lucy raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, that stuff you used with the sparks and everything to fix the meeting hall. That was earth magic, wasn't it?"

Naruto shook his head plainly. "No, that was alchemy."

"Alchemy? Seriously? I thought that was just some bogus type of magic people spout to sell knock-offs," Lucy responded in disbelief.

Naruto shook his head again. "Nuh-uh, it's real. I think there'll be a few minutes before the fight actually begins. I could show you simple examples of alchemy before we go if that'll make you believe me."

Lucy looked at him disgruntled. "You say that like watching those two duke it out is enjoyable."

Naruto shrugged with a chuckle. "Where I'm from spars like that are common."

Lucy blinked as she registered his words. "Yeah, where you're from. Gai, Lee, Miranda, and Julia talk about the same kind of things all the time."

Naruto nodded hurriedly. "I'll tell you about it after the fight, want me to show you my alchemy or not?"

Lucy shook the extraneous thoughts from her mind. "Uh, yeah, right. Come on."

Following her into her apartment, Naruto looked around and noticed that it was, in fact, decidedly girly. He didn't know why that surprised him though. With pink wallpaper decorating the walls, her bed tucked in the corner opposite the doorway, a small armoire opposite it with a mirror.

He also noticed the desk next to the bed as well with an unfinished letter on it. Against his better instincts he looked over the letter.

Its contents, as they were at the time, read, "Dear Mom, everything here at Fairy Tail just keeps getting more exciting, or should I say taxing? Erza, the strongest woman in Fairy Tail and also really pretty took me, Gray, Natsu, Happy, and some new guy she brought along named Naruto. Surprisingly enough he's actually kinda cute, and really strong too, though the magic he uses is pretty weird. Anyway, I still think it was really awesome that I was part of Fairy Tail's strongest team."

Naruto looked over it confused before he heard a shrill shriek.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing!?" Lucy immediately rushed over, snatched the letter from the desk and kicked Naruto away from the desk. Shouting with a light blush on her face, she accused Naruto, "I thought you were the normal one out of the group, and yet I caught you peeping on my personal stuff!"

Naruto, who had been sent flying against the opposite wall and landed upside down, looked at Lucy puzzled. "Err, sorry…?" Naruto flipped himself upright and rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. "Sorry about that, I just saw it on the desk and got curious."

Lucy narrowed her eyes suspiciously but sighed and set the letter down. "Fine…how much did you read?"

Naruto flinched again. "Eh, all…of it…?"

**'_Well that was dumb,_'** Ryuujin remarked.

"Whaaat!?" Lucy shrieked. Sitting in a corner clutching the letter and crying anime tears she looked at Naruto betrayed. "E-e-even…th-th-that part…?"

Naruto sweat-dropped. "If I say no…will you still hit me?"

"Damn right I will!"

"Then yes."

**'_You nitwit._'**

* * *

Outside, the civilians looked up as the area shook.

* * *

Naruto twitched before standing up and shouting, "Geez! Why'd you have to hit me so hard?!"

"Because you went snooping into a girl's personal life you jerk!" Lucy snapped back.

The two continued a growling glaring contest before sighing.

Lucy looked off to the side with a light tint to her cheeks and requested, "Look, think you could not tell anyone about this, please?"

Naruto blinked curiously at her solemn expression but nodded with a shrug. "Yeah, sure. It's just a letter to your mom, why would I gain anything for blurting about something like that?"

Lucy looked at him surprised. "Er, yeah. Thanks."

Naruto nodded plainly. "Sure. Still want me to show you my alchemy?"

Lucy thought for a moment and then shook her head. "Nah, it's alright. For now let's just go before the show starts."

Naruto nodded in agreement and followed Lucy out the doorway, though was still troubled by her reaction to him seeing the letter, as it was different than he expected.

* * *

The two arrived at an area in the middle of Magnolia's busy streets where a crowd had gathered around Natsu and Erza, including other Fairy Tail members.

Lucy and Naruto joined their group, future group for Naruto, and Naruto asked, "Has it started?"

Gray shook his head. "No. You're just in time."

Natsu looked at Erza with a smirk. "Alright Erza, time to go. This way I'll prove that I'm the strongest in Fairy Tail."

"That so?" Erza asked with a matching smirk, Requipping into a new armor. The armor was predominantly black, with orange and red parts on it as well, the orange pieces being in the general shape of flames, the other pieces draconic in shape, her hair also being tied up in a pair of pigtails by clips resembling dragon horns. It was also made up of three main parts, torso armor, gauntlets, and greaves. The torso armor lacked pauldrons, had a simple orange, flame-like breastplate, leaving a small amount of her cleavage visible, another orange piece circling her waist like a belt, along with a dragon-like wings for flight. as well as exposing part of her legs, the overall piece resembling a one-piece bathing suit. The gauntlets sported prominent orange decorations, along with small, claw-like protrusions on the hands. The greaves were shaped like dragon claws, with orange knee-guards, and had black sections extending from her knees to her upper-thighs. It also had a red, orange, and black sword. "Requip: Flame Empress Armor!" Erza announced.

Naruto looked at Erza's new armor and blinked curiously, thinking back to the other two armors he had seen as well. He then gave a disgruntled sigh. '_Is it just me or do all her armors look…well…unfit for combat?_'

**'_Who cares, she looks damn hot in them!_'** Ryuujin remarked perversely.

Naruto just sighed.

Gray snickered at Natsu's enthusiasm. "The moron may be tough, and even if he did beat Erza, the guild's other strongest members would still beat him."

Naruto looked at him confused. "Like who?"

Elfman then added, "Two of 'em are Mystogan and Laxus."

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "I…don't know those two…"

Gray shrugged in response. "Well, Mystogan doesn't show up much and as for Laxus…well consider not having met him to be a blessing."

Naruto narrowed his eyes in thought before turning back to the fight as Elfman energetically remarked, "Strongest fighter or not, Erza is definitely the guild's strongest woman, she's a real man!"

Naruto and Gray then rebutted, "That's completely opposite!"

The fight began immediately with Natsu rushing towards Erza, his fist encased in flame. Lunging his fist forward at Erza, he shouted, "Fire Dragon Iron Fist!"

Erza jumped to the side of the attack deftly, her armor also seeming to absorb the flames.

Naruto observed the act quite intrigued. "Her armor. It's devouring the flames."

"Yup," Macao asserted. "That's Erza's Flame Empress Armor for ya. It halves the effectiveness of all fire-based attacks."

"That so?" '_Heh, heh, Sasuke would be at a big disadvantage with that._'

**'_It also helps he was a complete tard._'**

Erza swiped her sword down, encasing it in flame as well, before lunging at Natsu.

However, before either she or Natsu could land the next blow, a horn interrupted their fight.

Everyone looked to the side confused as a person, sort of, walked up to the duo.

Naruto just looked at "it" puzzled.

A humanoid frog in noble robes. The frog looked amongst the group and announced, "Fairy Tail has been causing severe amounts of damage to the lands of Fiore in their constant jobs, causing over seven hundred thousand Jewel in damages in the past month alone. The Council has determined that instead of punishing the entire guild, one member shall be selected and reprimanded in its place. That member shall be, Erza Scarlet."

"What?!" Natsu and the others shouted as Erza deactivated her Flame Empress Armor.

One of the frog person's followers walked up to Erza and placed a pair of handcuffs on her.

The frog person then continued, "As such, you, Erza Scarlet, are hereby under arrest and shall be taken to the Magic Council of Era for trial. That is all."

The frog and its companions then walked off with Erza in tow.

As the group left, Makarov narrowed his eyes and then turned to Elfman. "Make sure Natsu doesn't leave."

Elfman nodded and, just as Natsu began to jump up in order to leave, Elfman reached up and grabbed him by the legs and pulled him back. "Sorry Natsu, but we can't let you go causing trouble like that."

"What?!" Natsu shouted indignantly. "But they arrested Erza for no reason! You guys aren't just gunna let'em get away with it, are ya?!"

Makarov merely sighed in frustration. He then looked around to order the others back to the guild when he noticed something strange. "Hmm…where's that newcomer?"

Lucy pointed beside herself plainly. "He's right…here…?"

Naruto had vanished.

Makarov slapped a hand against his face in frustration. "Don't tell me…"

* * *

Erza was being led through the halls of the Fiore branch of the Council's building, when she spotted someone that made her blood run cold.

Standing next to one of the pillars in the hallway was Councilor Siegrain, his arms folded as Erza and her escort approached.

The escort bowed to him. "Councilor."

Siegrain turned and smiled slyly to Erza. "It's good to see you again, Erza."

The Fairy Princess kept silent.

After a moment the Councilor sighed and then walked up to Erza, placing a hand on her chin. "You know, it's not good to ignore a Councilor."

Erza narrowed her eyes at him. "Is that a threat?"

Siegrain backed up and chuckled. "Not at all. Just a suggestion. Also, I'd suggest it best to keep the past behind us, so I'll overlook this little event." He then walked off with his hands in his pockets.

Erza bit her lip as he walked away. '_He is a very dangerous man._'

Erza was then led to the court where the other Councilors were waiting to put her on trial.

* * *

Back at the Fairy Tail guildhall, Makarov and the others stood in the main room of the building, somber over Erza's arrest.

On the counter, however, was a small jar with a red salamander inside with a single tuft of pink hair. "Hey! Let me out dammit!"

Mira turned to the small creature. "That won't happen Natsu, if we let you out you'll go off and do something reckless."

Natsu then turned to Macao sitting nearby at a table. "Come on Macao! You owe me for this one! Remember Mt. Hakobe?! C'mon!"

Macao trembled and then sighed. "Sorry Natsu, Mira's got a point, and even I wouldn't want you to face the wrath of the Council after angering them, since we both know you would."

Lucy looked at Natsu inside the jar and then added her own opinion to the matter. "You know, for once, I actually agree with Natsu."

Natsu, who was as puzzled as the others, blinked curiously.

"We should go, leave immediately to go rescue Erza."

Makarov shook his head. "No, it'd be useless to go, even if we left now. We'd arrive too late."

Lucy clenched her fists angrily.

"Besides, I'm sure that boy will be there any minute now."

Lucy and the others looked at him puzzled, Mira merely giggled.

"Uhh…" Lucy began confused, "What…do you mean…?"

"Come now, Lucy," Makarov countered, "You were there, you saw him fight. I'm sure even you saw that look in his eyes. I highly doubt he'd sit on his rump waiting for Erza's trial. I'd wager he's probably intervening on it right this minute."

* * *

Back at the court, Erza stood in front of the Council as a series of witnesses, civilians and property owners in the different areas that had been involved in the fight against Eisenwald, attested to Fairy Tail, and more specifically Erza's, destructive capabilities and tendencies.

As the last witness stepped down, Erza merely standing calmly, Org looked down at her and announced, "Erza Scarlet. To the charges of severe property damage, this court hereby finds you guilty. You are sentenced to-"

However, just as Org was about to announce the sentencing, the ceiling burst open from an explosion as a figure fell from the roof and landed on the floor in front of the court, causing a small crater in the floor from the impact.

The figure stood straight and showed itself to be a person in a black, hooded cloak with armored gloves, armored boots, and a porcelain mask depicting a fox.

Org snarled angrily and shouted, "What is the meaning of this?! Who are you and why are you interrupting this trial?!"

The figure chuckled darkly and then began to go through a series of elaborate poses before announcing, "Who am I, you all ask? Well, I will tell you. I am a legend, a warrior, the man everyone looks up to! The measuring stick for men and the favorite for-blurgh!"

The person's speech was interrupted as Erza chopped him right on the head, a pulsating tic mark making itself known on her forehead. With her eyes shut and a twitching eyebrow, she demanded angrily, "Naruto…why are you here…?"

Naruto merely moaned as his mask fell off, revealing his face under his hood.

Org's eyes became shadowed as he ordered flatly, "Throw them both in a cell."

* * *

**Well, that should do it for this chapter, hope you guys enjoyed it and make sure to tell me what you thought of it in a review. Especially the people who liked it, because without a review you guys simply don't exist. The only opinions I see are from those who review, so if you like it say so, it'll at least make me more enthused about continuing the story.**


	4. First Few Jobs

**Chapter IV**

**Well, I hope some of you are excited for this next chapter. I can see most of you aren't though. Well, just read if you want to and don't if you don't. I'm rather exhausted with the flood of negative reviews, I have no intention of changing the story though, so for the time being I won't be doing a reviewer response anymore. So I'd like to thank my coauthors Bakuto Masaki and seeker of true anime fan fic, and I don't have much else to say, so let's just get on to the-**

***CRASH***

**Uhm...what the hell was that? Is that...a hole in my wall?  
**

**"Squinty eyes!"**

**Shit...great...now it's Natsu and Gray. Hey! Cut that out!**

**"Who the heck are you?"**

**"He's the author fire-breath."**

**"Oh..."**

**Yes Natsu, I am indeed the author. Although I am rather pissed you two broke a hole in my wall. But I guess while you're here, I might as well ask. What do you think of Naruto? How about you first Gray?**

**"Don't know really. Kind of hard to tell right now, but he's cool, I guess. For now."**

**I see, Natsu?**

**"He's awesome! With those weird skill...ninja things and stuff. Oh, and fixing stuff. Which means we don't have to hold back anymore!"**

**"He's not your personal mechanic fire breath!"**

**"What'd you say to me, stripper?"**

**And there's a second hole in the wall. Dammit. Well I guess might as well get on to the story then.**

* * *

Naruto and Erza both sat in a prison cell within the large structure where Erza's trial had been held.

Sitting on one side of the cell, Erza face-palmed lightly and asked exasperated, "What were you thinking?"

Naruto tilted his head in confusion. "What do you mean? I came to rescue you, what else?"

Erza sighed and responded, "You didn't _need_ to rescue me. This trial, this hearing, they were all just a formality. Nothing more than a show for the Council to show its power and display that it won't stand by if the guilds do something stupid. I would've been given a mere slap on the wrist before being sent home. But then you barged in and now we're both stuck in a prison cell."

Naruto sweat-dropped in response. "Oh…my bad."

"Honestly, what were you thinking?"

Naruto rubbed the back of his head embarrassed. "Well…I wasn't really. I just didn't want them to lock you up or anything and got mad. Though it looks like I ended up doing just that…huh?"

Erza looked at him puzzled and then chuckled somewhat. "Yes, I suppose you did. Though, it makes me happy you're willing to go to such extents to help your comrades. However, despite that, you should still try to stay within the laws and regulations the Council sets up, otherwise we're no better than a Dark Guild like Eisenwald."

Naruto raised an eyebrow and then frowned.

"And regardless, even _if_ what you were worried about had happened, you would have broken the law by rescuing me."

Naruto hissed annoyed. "Yeah, yeah, I get it. Those who break the rules are scum, right?"

Erza thought for a moment and nodded. "While not the words I would've chosen, yes. Those who break the law deserve punishment."

Narrowing his eyes, Naruto responded, "Those who break the rules may be scum, but those who abandon even one of their friends are worse than scum."

Erza flinched when he spoke.

"And I have no intention of being regarded that way by abandoning _anyone_ when there's something I could've done to help."

Erza clenched her fists as she listened to him speak. "I see…I suppose you have a point there…"

Naruto raised an eyebrow at Erza's sudden despondent turn but didn't have time to investigate when someone knocked on the cell door.

One of the amphibian-like workers under the Council approached the cell and opened the door. "The Council has decided to release you both with a warning. So be on your way."

Naruto turned to Erza with a grin. "See? It all worked out in the end."

Erza looked at him curiously for a moment but then nodded. "Yes, I suppose it did."

* * *

As the secretary, at least that's what Naruto assumed they were, led them through the halls to the exit, eventually another one appeared and got the attention of the first.

Naruto and Erza shared concerned glances when the first secretary turned and remarked, "Erza Scarlet, you may continue on your way, Naruto Uzumaki, one of the Councilors wishes to speak with you."

Naruto began sweating heavily and Erza looked at him mildly annoyed before continuing to leave.

* * *

Naruto just nodded weakly and followed the secretary to a pair of massive gold-colored doors leading in to an equally massive room.

The room was very tall with two floors, though the second was an open loft filled with books, a small staircase on either side, and a large desk at the back of the room facing away from the vast window viewing out onto the ocean.

"Impressive, isn't it?"

Naruto winced and turned around swiftly, flinching as he saw the Councilor Ultear walk up to him. Naruto just looked at her as the attractive woman walked up to him.

Smirking, she remarked, "That was quite a display you put on earlier."

Naruto flinched and replied, flustered, "Uh, th-thank you…!"

Ultear raised an eyebrow, smirk still in place, as she walked around him to the desk behind Naruto. "You seem tense. What, were you worried I was bringing you here to have you executed or something?"

Naruto sweat-dropped and answered. "Ah…well…sorta…"

Chuckling in amusement, she responded, "Well you do not need to worry about that. At least not from me."

Naruto blinked in confusion. "…Huh…?"

"I actually called you here for a different purpose."

Naruto raised an eyebrow and then asked, "And…what would that be…?"

Ultear sat down on the seat next to the desk and responded, "Well, you see, I am in need of someone with your skill sets."

Naruto looked at her curiously and then narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean?" he asked suspiciously.

"It is quite simple really. I've seen your work both in aiding Erza Scarlet and in stopping Eisenwald. I've witnessed the unique skills and abilities you possess. I also recall you at one point called yourself a ninja, correct?"

"Er…well…yeah. Why?"

"The reason is very simple, I would like your help with a few problems both I and a few other councilors are facing."

Naruto raised an eyebrow at the request and asked, "Like what?"

Ultear snickered lightly and replied slyly, "Now you don't truly believe that I would divulge information like that. If it were that safe, I would've merely asked those useless Rune Knights to handle it. But this is more…complex than that. If you're still uncertain, I _can_ tell you this: it will be a nice way to earn some extra Jewel, and it will get you more familiarized with the nation of Fiore."

Naruto thought for a few moments. However his thoughts were suddenly interrupted.

**'_I'd say it sounds like a nice trade, besides, I assume the kinds of things she's talking about are what the Leaf Village would've dished out to you anyway. Besides, if you're a really good boy, she might even let you have a go._'**

Naruto blinked dumbly. '_Have a go? At what…?_'

**'_Oh boy…you're still stupid aren't you?_'**

'_Am not, jerk!_'

**'_I'll put this in simple terms, if you impress her enough, she might show you a little facet of women I'm sure you never saw._'**

Naruto blinked and then slapped a hand over his nose as images of a very naked Ultear were flushed into his mind by Ryuujin. _'WHAT THE HELL!?_'

**'_What? You seem pretty dense so I thought I'd make it simple._'**

"You must be having a very rousing conversation inside that head of yours."

Naruto pulled his attention back to the world around him and shouted as he realize Ultear had moved to be standing right in front of him, the surprise causing him to fall flat on his ass.

Ultear looked at him puzzled and then snickered in amusement. "My, my, uncomfortable around women are we?"

"That's not it at all!" he protested. "I'd be shocked if anyone just got up in my face like that!"

"Oh? But I thought men relished the chance to be so close to a beautiful woman," Ultear accentuating her point by flowing a hand through her long, dark hair.

**'_See? She knows what's up._'**

'_Shut up!_' Naruto shook the cobwebs out of his head and stood back up. "Anyway, so you want me to do this for you, but won't tell me what it is unless I accept?"

Ultear nodded in response. "More or less."

"You should be able to see how that looks like a dumb transaction on my end."

"Of course. Though I wonder if it paying about as much as the average S-Class quest will change your mind."

Naruto blinked curiously. "S-Class…?"

Ultear looked at him in curious disbelief. "You mean you don't know what S-Class quests are?"

Naruto sweat slightly as he realized he said something stupid. "Ah…well…no…not really."

Ultear sighed in amused exasperation and then offered, "How about this? It's obvious to pretty much anyone that you aren't from around here. If you accept my request and do these tasks for me, you will get the pay I mentioned, and I might even find time to tell you a few things. Deal?"

Naruto furrowed his brow in thought.

Ryuujin interjected, **'_Hey, don't look a gift horse in the mouth. Especially if it has much more appealing places to look._'**

'_You know, you really are a pervert._'

**'_You're just now noticing this?_'**

Naruto sighed and then responded, "Okay. I'll accept. But do I have the option to back out if it feels suspicious?"

Ultear smiled sweetly and retorted, "If you don't mind spending the rest of your life in prison."

Naruto sweat-dropped. "I see…guess I might as well grab the bull by the horns then."

"That's a good outlook to have. Now, to start with what I was saying, the job itself. It's fairly simple, I'm certain someone of your level shouldn't have much trouble."

Naruto raised an eyebrow as Ultear handed him a document. He looked over it and raised both eyebrows in surprise.

"I see you understand the contents. Yes, that's right, an important object was stolen from the Council building. Unfortunately it's not something we can trust the Rune Knights to handle with care, and we don't exactly want word spreading that we were robbed, so reaching out to any of the guilds is out of the question."

Naruto looked at her puzzled. "But…it says here the thief is from a Legal Guild."

"Correct. However, the truth is really that all evidence points to that person. Which is part of the reason we need to keep it quiet. Even if said guild knew for a fact it was true, the mage guilds are too insular to rat out one of their own. That's where you come in."

Naruto folded his arms as he listened. "And what exactly am I supposed to do?"

Ultear nodded and replied, "In a perfect world you find the culprit, get the item back from him, and then bring it here. However it's more likely you'll have to do some fighting against him."

Naruto sighed and responded, "This will probably not make me very popular with the other guilds."

Ultear smiled and answered, "That's why I decided you were good for the job."

Naruto just looked at her dumbly.

"If your little show was any indicator, you at least know how to utilize outfits to disguise yourself in some way. I'm sure if you do that then they won't recognize you."

Naruto tried to keep a straight face but twitched in annoyance. '_How come I didn't think of that?_'

"So, I assume it won't be too big an issue?"

Naruto looked at the paper and then sighed. "No, I'll do it. Just be sure to keep up your end of the bargain."

Ultear nodded as Naruto left the room, the door closing behind him. Her smile then widened into a smirk.

* * *

Naruto stuffed the paper into his pouch and then looked around for one of the Council secretaries. Upon seeing one Naruto flagged him down.

The humanoid amphibian looked at Naruto curiously. "Do you need something?"

Naruto nodded in return. "I was hoping I could use a messenger bird."

The secretary looked at him for a moment and then nodded. "I suppose. Where is it going and what will it say?"

Naruto grinned in appreciation. "To Fairy Tail. I won't be returning for a little while."

"Right. And your name?"

"Naruto."

* * *

A young man with short brown hair in a ragged outfit walked along one of Fiore's many dirt roads, a large backpack hanging off his back. The man also had a green symbol on his left hand, the symbol for the Legal Guild Lamia Scale. After a few more minutes of walking he looked around and then ducked into a small grouping of rocks nearby. He then dug into his pack and pulled out a small object wrapped in cloth.

* * *

Unbeknownst to him, however, a figure observed him from atop one of the scant few trees in the area. Waiting to see him fully unwrap the object, the figure vanished from its perch.

* * *

The man grinned at the object, a small blue orb with a faint light emanating from it.

"I don't think that belongs to you."

The man turned around as he stood swiftly, to see Naruto behind him, though he wouldn't have recognize him due to his outfit, cloak and porcelain mask. He snarled as he hid the object behind his back. "Look pal, I don't know who you are, but get lost before I have to hurt you."

Naruto chuckled lightly in response. "I don't think so. All I'm here for is that little thing tucked behind your back. Give it to me and I'll be on my way."

He pulled something out from behind his back slowly. "You mean this?" On his last word he threw a group of smoke bombs and filled the area with thick gray smoke.

Naruto twitched an eyebrow and activated his Ryugan, allowing him to see the man through the fog of smoke. "That wasn't very smart." Naruto jumped up into the air, vanishing.

The young Lamia Scale mage ran from the plume of smoke swiftly, trying to put distance between him and his pursuer.

A futile effort as Naruto then landed on the road in front of him. "Wh-what the…?!" He turned around to run the other way but found himself faced with a second Naruto. "What the hell?!"

Naruto, the first one that is, then said, "Listen, just hand over the sphere. You really think your guild will appreciate you stealing from the Council?"

The man froze and clenched his fists. Before shouting back, "It wasn't theirs in the first place!"

Naruto looked at him confused. "Care to elaborate? Probably won't change my actions, though I am kinda curious."

"My dad found this mana condenser on a job when I was a kid. Our guild used to train other mages. But then the Council took it. I'm not letting you take it back!" He then swept his hand through the air several times. A pale green magic circle appeared in the air and sent blades of wind flying at Naruto.

Naruto just raised a hand as the blades approached, before they began to shrink and were pulled into his hand and vanished.

The man's eyes widened in shock. "Wh-what the…? Who are you?"

Naruto looked at him for a moment in thought. "You can call me Menma."

The young man was about to speak when the second Naruto walked up behind him and knocked him off his feet, catching the sphere as it fell. He looked at Naruto angrily and grunted, "Give it…back…"

Naruto looked down at him and asked, "Tell me something. Your dad's gone, isn't he?"

The man looked off to the side with a sneer. "Yeah, so what?"

"Do you really think he'd want you breaking the law? Or what would your guildmates think if you had succeeded? Do you think they'd want a criminal in their midst?"

The man froze for a moment and then turned to look at Naruto. He then snarled as he looked off to the side. "Shit…"

"So, how about you run along back to your guild then?" Naruto then reached into his pocket and tossed something to him.

The young man looked at it puzzled and then picked it up, noticing it was a small marble-like object. He then looked up to ask what it was, but Naruto was gone.

* * *

His secret albeit simple task completed, Naruto made his return to the Council building to report to Ultear.

As he walked up to the woman, he placed the object down and asked, "So why couldn't anyone else have done this?"

Ultear nodded in appreciation. "Simple, I doubt any others would have taken your methods to obtain it, and it would have spiraled into a mess."

Naruto frowned in annoyance, not feeling like he was getting the full story, but nodded all the same.

"In any case, that was rather smooth operating with how swiftly you completed the task. I have a new offer to make."

Naruto was suspicious but decided to listen. "What is it?"

Ultear smirked and answered, "You perform tasks such as those for me, and for the other Councilors when they approach me with their own issues, and I will pay you for each job. Now, naturally these jobs will require one primary asset: deniability."

Naruto thought for a moment and then sighed. "Fine, if they're all as harmless as this one I guess it'll be fine."

Ultear smiled in return. "Good. For the moment there's nothing, but I will send you a message whenever I get a mission that requires your skills."

Naruto nodded in agreement and left the room before turning to leave the building, thinking to himself, '_I just got myself involved with a real mess, didn't I?_'

* * *

Naruto made his way back to the guild, hoping that arriving a day late wouldn't cause any troubles.

As he approached the front doors he heard a large crash and then stepped inside to see raucous laughter.

Blinking curiously he wondered aloud, "Erm…what the heck's going on…?"

"Oh, hey there, you finally decided to come back."

Naruto turned to see Loke speaking to him, a girl hanging off each arm as seemed per the usual. Naruto nodded and repeated, "Mind explaining what's going on?"

"Natsu just tried to continue his bout with Erza from before. She took him down in one good blow and now…and now…"

Naruto noticed that Loke began to trail off and look drowsy, soon the feeling seemed to spread to the rest of the guild. He walked over to Erza to ask what was happening but soon felt the feeling himself.

Even Makarov showed the effects of whatever was causing the strange turn of events.

"Mystogan…" Gray growled before he finally fell asleep along with the rest of the guild.

Only Makarov seemed unaffected, aside from Naruto.

Makarov, while straining to remain conscious, looked at Naruto curiously as a man wearing a dark blue cloak, a dark blue bandana with a forehead protector, much like Naruto's own headband, a green mask that covered most of his face, a blue and grey outfit that left his arms and lower legs exposed, those being covered with bandages, as well as dark blue gloves, entered the building through the main door.

Makarov grunted as the man walked by him. "Mystogan…release them…"

Mystogan made only a cursory glance at Makarov before turning to see Naruto, who was still somewhat conscious like Makarov himself, and tilted his head.

Naruto winced and mumbled, "I don't know what's goin' on…but this feels like…a genjutsu…so…" Naruto then raised one hand in a half sign and mumbled, "Release!" Feeling the flow of energy in his body normalize, Naruto stood up and turned to Mystogan, who stepped back some in surprise. "What the heck do you think you're doing pal!?"

Makarov's eyes widened as he saw this. '_Not even I can fully break Mystogan's Sleep Spell…and yet…_'

Mystogan looked down some and then simply ignored Naruto, walking to the request board. "The spell will lift in three…" he grabbed a flier and turned around to leave, "…two…" he walked towards the door, making a "shh" motion to Naruto, "…one…" he then walked out the door and vanished.

Naruto frowned as the rest of the guild began to slowly wake up.

As the others woke up, Gray rubbed the back of his neck in discomfort. "Geez, I know Mystogan's obsessed with hiding what he looks like, but does he really need to put everyone to sleep like that?"

Naruto raised an eyebrow and asked, "Mystogan, is that who that guy was?"

Gray froze for a second and then asked, "You…actually saw him?"

Naruto nodded puzzled as he sat back down. "Yeah. Well…sort of. He was all covered up so I couldn't really see what he looked like. Does he do that every time he shows up?"

Erza nodded and responded, "Yes. He shows up, puts everyone to sleep with a spell, takes a job, and then leaves. Only the Master, and now, it seems, you, know what he actually looks like."

Naruto shrugged. "I wouldn't say I really know what he looks like since, like I just said, he had his whole body covered head to toe with clothing."

"Don't forget about me little lady."

Everyone turned and looked up to the second level of the guildhall to see a very tall and muscular man with blue/grey eyes, slicked back, spiky blonde hair, a lightning-shaped scar on the right side of his face, wearing a pair of spiked headphones over his ears, a dark orange tunic with leopard spots on it, a black cape with fur on the edges, loose, baggy red pants, and black shoes sat in a chair on the upper level of the guildhall.

Naruto frowned and asked, "And that guy is…?"

"Laxus," Erza answered.

Gray nodded. "Yup, he, like Erza and Mystogan, are known as one of Fairy Tail's strongest wizards."

Naruto frowned in thought. "That so…?"

Laxus smirked. "Don't beat around the bush, I'm not _one_ of the strongest, I _am_ the strongest."

Naruto looked at Laxus curiously, noticing something very strange about him. Leaning to one side, cupping a hand over one eye and closing the other, he activated his Ryugan and saw a very strange occurrence. Laxus' body seemed to have a strange concentration of mana in the center.

Makarov noticed Naruto's actions and narrowed his eyes.

At that moment Natsu finally woke up, having slept longer than the rest, and happened to register Laxus' words and, without skipping a beat, jumped up into the air towards Laxus and shouted, "Laxus, fight m-!"

The last of his sentence was cut off as Makarov's fist suddenly enlarged and slammed Natsu down on the ground. "No, Natsu. You know that only a select few are allowed on the second floor."

Naruto raised an eyebrow and turned to Lucy nearby, who just shrugged her shoulders.

Erza clarified for them, "The second level of the guildhall is where the S-Class quests are."

Naruto furrowed his brow in thought. '_S-Class…Ultear said that too._' "Say, Erza, what exactly _are_ S-Class quests?"

Nodding, she responded, "They're specialized jobs that are extremely difficult and require much more skill and power than normal jobs."

Laxus then snickered as he looked down at the others. "Yeah, whatever old man, let him up here if you want. Besides, not like I'd lose to Erza or Mystogan anyway, I'd defeat you both."

Naruto narrowed his eyes in annoyance at Laxus' gloating. However, he wasn't paying attention to his hand when he did, as red energy sparked lightly from his hand around the cup he was holding. Which then caused the cup to break apart as though shattering. Naruto flinched in response and remarked weakly, "Oops…"

Another guildmate saw this and remarked worriedly, "Oh no…we don't need another Gildarts…"

Naruto looked at him and asked with a raised eyebrow, "Who's Gildarts?"

Laxus interrupted, "Just another Fairy Tail wizard, and one of the others I'd defeat."

Naruto sneered, "I didn't ask you lightning rod."

Laxus flinched at the remark. "What did you call me…?"

Naruto just sneered at him before Mirajane walked up to him. "You know, now that I think about it, you haven't received your Fairy Tail emblem, have you?"

Naruto looked up in thought and then shook his head. "No, I haven't yet." He then grinned playfully. "Do you have orange?"

Mirajane giggled in amusement. "Naturally. I can just apply it with this stamp, just tell me where."

Naruto nodded as he thought for a moment. He then nodded silently to himself and rolled up the sleeve on his right and pointed to the side of his arm, just below the shoulder.

Mira nodded and placed the stamp over the spot and it released a small pulse of light, Naruto noted a small amount of heat, and when she pulled back there was a bright orange Fairy Tail mark on his arm.

Naruto grinned happily at the new brand.

Mira then asked, "So, how do you like it?"

Naruto was about to respond when he noticed a bird fly in through the window and land on his shoulder. He looked at it puzzled before noticing the piece of paper wrapped around its leg.

Naruto looked at it curiously and then unwrapped the paper and the bird flew off.

"What's that?" Natsu asked, being rather nosy.

Naruto looked at him confused and pushed him back some. "Could you not get so close?" Naruto then unfolded the paper and read it, before sighing.

"Something wrong?" Lucy asked as she played with a small white creature.

Naruto shook his head. "No, I just have something I need to go take care of."

Makarov looked at Naruto curiously. "Oh? You just got back to the guild."

Naruto smiled weakly. "Yeah, I know. But you could say I got myself into a bit of a mess, so I'm in the process of trying to clean it up."

Makarov tilted his head in confusion. "Need help?"

Naruto sweat some, hoping Makarov would stop asking questions, and responded, "Uh…no, it's fine. I can handle it myself."

Makarov looked at him for a moment then shrugged. "Whatever you say kid. Just don't forget the guild's here to help."

Naruto nodded in understanding and ran out the front door.

* * *

Naruto got out to the forested area on the edge of Magnolia and looked around to make sure no one was watching him before activating his Ryugan. The center few rings on his right eye then turned black before a swirling vortex extended out and absorbed him into it before vanishing.

* * *

On one of the rocky outcroppings near the Council building, a small black spot appeared in the air before the same swirling vortex appeared, Naruto appearing from it this time before the vortex receded and his eyes returned to normal. Grinning, Naruto remarked, "Gotta love Kamui."

* * *

Naruto then made his way to the same office where he had previously spoken with Ultear, after having to go through all the trouble of dealing with those secretaries first, and knocked on the door.

Entering upon being prompted he saw Ultear amusing herself with a small green-blue orb as she levitated it through the air. Dropping it into her palm she nodded to Naruto somewhat surprised. "My, you certainly arrived swiftly."

Naruto nodded in return as he walked up to her. "I try to be quick."

Ultear chuckled in light amusement. "Let's just hope there are times where you're not _too_ quick."

Naruto looked at her puzzled and tilted his head befuddled. "What do you mean?"

Ultear sighed with mirth before shaking her head. "Disregard it. I see you got my letter?"

Naruto nodded in response. "Yeah, though, what exactly could be so urgent that you needed me to come here so soon? Hasn't it only been a day or two since the last job?"

Ultear nodded, her expression instantly becoming serious rather than playful. "It has. But a new situation has made itself evident, and it needs to be dealt with swiftly. It's also a job I'm sure your guild mates would look down on."

Naruto frowned in concern and asked, "What is it?"

"There is a certain man with great influence within Fiore and vast wealth. We have received undeniable proof that he is providing funds to Dark Guilds. One in particular, Grimoire Heart. His actions up to this point have been negligible. However we now believe that he has handed over sensitive information to them."

Naruto frowned as he listened. "Oh boy…I can already see where this is going."

Ultear nodded in response. "Yes, taking him into custody, however, is not a viable option."

"Why not? He's committed big crimes, and we have proof."

"This is true. But he's also a diplomat from Bosco, and right now the tensions between Fiore and Bosco are rather…tenuous. If we were to arrest him, Bosco could, and likely would, cite it as a hostile act."

Naruto sighed and asked, "But if an unknown third party assassinated him, Cosco or whatever could do all the shouting they want but wouldn't have any proof that Fiore was involved."

Ultear smirked in delight. "My, my, handsome and thoughtful. Yes, that's it exactly. And before you say anything, yes, I am using you as Fiore's scapegoat."

Naruto just sighed and scratched the back of his neck. "I don't really like it, but if he's helping a Dark Guild then I suppose he's a threat that needs to be dealt with."

Ultear nodded in agreement. "Yes." She then patted her hand on a folder. "This should give you everything you need to know about him."

Naruto grabbed the folder and studied it for a few moments.

"One more thing," Ultear added. "Your current…attire would stand out quite a bit, so I think a change of clothes is in order."

Naruto tilted his head in confusion. "Like what?"

Ultear smirked and patted a box sitting next to her.

Naruto raised an eyebrow and grabbed the box, taking it into a restroom to change.

* * *

Upon his return Ultear smiled appreciatively. "You look quite good in that outfit."

The outfit in question was a grey tunic with rolled up sleeves with scale-like chainmail overtop of it, a long beige cape reaching down to his knees, sage-green pants, and ankle-length, brown leather boots. Naruto examined his outfit, which still left his headband and tool pouch on it, and then smirked. "I like it. I really like the scaly armor."

Ultear nodded in agreement. "Yes, this way you will look more like a wandering soldier, and will be less likely to have people take immediate notice of you."

Naruto frowned some at that last comment, being noticed is something he's always worked for, though he understood it in that circumstance, so he nodded in acceptance and then left the room, leaving Ultear to smile to herself. "Let's see if that pig really thinks stabbing us in the back was worth it."

* * *

Naruto dashed through the trees of Fiore, he was personally pleased they were so prevalent in the small nation, making his way to a place he never figured he'd be heading to, Crocus, the capitol of Fiore.

* * *

Naruto arrived on the edge of Crocus faster than he'd expected, and was surprised by the vast city.

Looking around from the treetop he was perched upon, he whistled in surprise at the size of the city, its streets laid out in a circular format around the large castle in the center.

Nodding to himself he looked back down at the information Ultear had given him and read over it once more to get more familiar with his target.

The image showed a rather heavyset man with very little hair on his head, dull grey eyes, and seen wearing a rather expensive blue suit with an intricate, golden design printed on it.

Naruto smirked and then looked into the city. "Dressed that gaudily finding this guy'll be easy."

He then looked at the actual citizens and sweat some. "Huh…I suppose an overdressed man would fit nicely into a city of overdressed people…how unfortunate."

* * *

Naruto merely sighed and made his way down to the city itself.

Naruto looked around as he wandered through the outskirts of the city, seeing mostly shops and inns around the area.

He was happy to note, however, that Ultear's decision for his change of clothing seemed to pay off as most people seemed to ignore him, allowing him to do more searching.

Although the closer he got to the main area of the city the more he realized that he was facing a problem and ducked into an alleyway.

Groaning in annoyance he looked around to make sure no one was watching him. "Damn, there sure are a lot of people here, it's hard to even walk around." Naruto then decided it was time to adorn a different set of clothes. "Well, at the least, I don't want anyone to see my face, that'd be a lot of annoying." After swiftly changing into his masked outfit Naruto looked around and then up. "Heh, guess that means it's time to go skyward."

With that in mind Naruto pulsed energy from his Rinnegan through his feet and launched himself up into the air, landing on the rooftops of one of the nearby buildings.

He looked around and hissed in frustration. "Great…it's easier to move around but now I can't tell anyone apart." Looking around he then remembered something and checked the information on his target once more. Grinning to himself he tucked the folder away and took off to a different area of the city.

* * *

After looking around for a few moments he decided he was in the right spot. "Heh, heh, it seems innocuous to most, but if you say a guy like this has odd hobbies, there's pretty much only one thing that can mean."

Jumping down Naruto peered into a nearby building and saw the man he was going after sitting inside. '_Guess all that time with Pervy Sage paid off._' Naturally, the place in question was a "gentlemen's club."

Naruto nodded to himself, knowing what he had to do, and decided to wait for the man to come out.

Hopping up to the rooftops he placed Shadow Clones around the building to wait for him to come out.

* * *

Unfortunately for Naruto he hadn't taken into account a man with that much money and time would be in there for a very long time.

He decided to let his attention wander as he waited, which is when he noticed something strange on a nearby rooftop.

Narrowing his eyes he created a new Shadow Clone and then decided to investigate.

What he saw, from a safe distance, was rather strange.

A young-looking girl with dark skin, long grey hair tied up in a ponytail with a red ribbon with long tassels that had blue rings on the end, bright red eyes, and a rather unusual outfit consisting of a red and yellow scarf wrapped around the lower part of her face that hung down to her waist, a black and orange tube top connected to a similarly colored bikini bottom, long, thigh-high socks with the ankles and toes exposed, and brown shoes, her entire outfit being connected by a series of rings and straps.

Naruto raised a curious eyebrow behind his mask and observed the girl, it was obvious she was watching the same building he was. Though he was rather puzzled what she was there for.

His curiosities about her were forced to be pushed down when she suddenly turned and threw a kunai at him.

Naruto raised both eyebrows, surprised to see someone else using ninja gear, but reacted swiftly enough for his Rinnegan to stop the kunai midair before it hit him.

The girl watched in confusion as her thrown kunai hovered for a couple seconds before hitting the ground with a metallic clink. She snarled and threw more at Naruto.

Somehow these managed to strike him in the chest, right before he burst into a cloud of smoke, obscuring her vision. "What the…?!" she shouted in confusion.

Naruto then placed a hand around her torso and a kunai to throat. "Now, do you want to calm down a little?"

The girl gasped in surprise and tried to turn and look at him, though the increased pressure from his kunai told her that was not a good idea. "How did you get behind me like that?"

Naruto couldn't help gloating a little, "A little thing called the Substitution Jutsu. Now, my turn, who are you, and what are you doing here?"

"Shouldn't I be asking you that?"

Naruto frowned in annoyance. "I'm not playing around here kid, now answer my question."

It seemed that calling her kid was a bad move as gained a tic mark before wriggling her thin frame out of his arms and up into the air before throwing a series of kunai at him.

Naruto just sighed and swept his hand in front of him, the invisible energy of his Rinnegan knocking her barrage to the ground.

The girl landed away from him on an opposite rooftop and glared angrily. "How did you do that?!"

"My secret." Naruto then raised a hand towards her and shouted, "Almighty Push!"

The girl was confused by his actions until she felt a powerful invisible force slam into her and pin her against the wall behind her. She prepared to jump away but Naruto clapped his hands together and then slammed down on the floor of the roof they were on and blue energy sparked from him to the wall she was up against and the brickwork changed and shifted, wrapping around her wrists and ankles like shackles. "H-hey! What is this?!"

Naruto walked over to her and looked at her slightly annoyed, though she couldn't see that through his mask. "Alright then…now that you're a little more restrained, how about we try this again? Tell me why you're here."

The girl turned her head away annoyed. "Hmph."

Naruto sighed. "You're not making this easy. I'm trying to avoid getting forceful here."

The girl turned and looked at him wearily. "F-forceful…? Like…what…?" she asked timidly, unconsciously trying to cross her legs.

Naruto just looked at her dumbly. "Huh? N-no…nothing like that. I'm an assassin, not an asshole."

"Wait…you're an assassin too?" she asked puzzled.

Naruto chuckled to himself. "So I was right, you are here to assassinate someone."

The girl winced in shock and confusion. "No, no! Forget I said anything!"

Naruto just folded his arms and questioned, "One more thing, tell me who it is you're after and I'll consider letting you go."

The girl glared at Naruto but then turned her gaze down to the street momentarily.

"I see…so it seems you and I are after the same person."

"Wh-what…how could you-?"

"How could I tell? I have my ways. Now, I'm going to leave you up here like a good little girl, and then I'll think about coming back to get you later."

Naruto then vanished in a burst of smoke.

"Hey! Don't leave me here!"

* * *

Naruto appeared on a rooftop overhead of his target's pathway, the man visible down on the street below, before he swiftly ducked into an alleyway to hide.

Naruto chuckled to himself before following his path on the rooftops.

After a few seconds, Ryuujin asked, **'_How _did_ you know that she was gunning for the same target?_'**

Naruto answered, '_She looked down at the street right as the guy was leaving the club, one of my clones dispelled a couple seconds earlier and informed me of that, so I could tell that's where she was looking._'

Ryuujin paused for a moment. **'_When did you get so perceptive?_'**

'_I've just learned how to use my Shadow Clones, that's all._' Naruto then stopped when the man stopped near a small intersection of back alleys. "Well, guess there's no time like the present."

Naruto then jumped down to the ground below.

* * *

The man fortunately didn't notice Naruto's arrival but did turn around when he got the feeling of being watched, and noticed Naruto approaching him. The man stumbled backwards in fear. "Whhaaah!"

Naruto merely watched him silently.

The man trembled as he looked at Naruto. "Y-you're here…to kill me…aren't you…?"

Naruto simply nodded.

"S-so then…you must be from Grimoire Heart."

Naruto raised an eyebrow but kept silent.

The man got on his knees and put his hands together. "Please! Just a little more time! I know I still owe you, I'm just having trouble at the moment!"

Naruto decided to listen to him, but kept silent.

"Y-you're not…going to say anything?"

Naruto collected his thoughts momentarily before sighing. Reaching into his back pocket he pulled out a kunai.

"W-wait…please…I'm begging you…"

"Sorry, I've got a mission."

* * *

Naruto returned to the rooftop where he had held the strange girl in place, however, she was no longer there.

He looked around puzzled before raising a hand to the side, stopping a kunai midair from hitting him. Naruto turned in slight annoyance to the source, the same girl as before. "You should just give up, I already killed him."

The girl looked at him with a blank stare for a few seconds. "You…were trying to kill him too…?"

Naruto studied her momentarily in thought, and then nodded.

"…Oh…well you should have said so."

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "And why would I have done that? You attacked me first."

"…Yeah…I thought you were protecting him, with all your copies watching the building and everything…"

Naruto looked at her flatly, though his expression was not visible to her. "I…see…so what would you have done if I had told you I was going to kill him?"

"Go home."

"That…doesn't make very much sense. If you're an assassin like I am, that means you get paid for finishing the job…right…?"

The girl grinned under her scarf. "Nah, I get paid either way, the only requirement is he ends up dead."

"That's…a rather strange arrangement…"

"Well, I guess I'll go and tell the others it's done."

Naruto looked at her curiously. "Others?"

The girl turned to him for a moment with a curious expression. After a few moments she seemed to arbitrarily decide he was trustworthy and responded, "Yup, the rest of the kids at Dragonar." The girl then vanished in a plume of smoke.

Naruto folded his arms in thought. "What an odd kid. And what's this "dragonar" thing?"

**'_Don't ask me._'**

'_I didn't._'

* * *

Naruto returned to the Council building to report to Ultear his success.

"Good to hear, though it is strange you ran into another assassin. Since she wore such little clothing, did you happen to see a mark of affiliation?" Ultear inquired

Naruto sighed and replied, "Sorry, I was too busy fighting to check her out."

"Is that so? Too bad. Well, in any case, good job on completing the task. You can keep the change of clothes by the way."

Naruto nodded and then made to ask a question but, after considering it shook his head. "I'll be going then."

"Right, I'll let you know if your services are required again."

Naruto sighed and waved to her as he walked out the door.

* * *

Naruto arrived back in Fiore a few days later though decided to stop by his shared apartment with Miranda and Julia.

Though when he did, he saw a most unusual sight, Lucy was standing out front.

She turned as he walked up and looked at him curiously. "Wow, where'd you get the new duds?"

Naruto waved and answered, "A sort of…compensation for the last job."

Lucy nodded with a smile. "Looks good on you, much better than that horrible orange."

Naruto twitched an eyebrow in retort. "Don't bash the orange, it's the greatest color ever."

Lucy just sweat slightly in discomfort. "Ah…right…" She then shook her head and persisted, "Hey, think we could get your help on something?"

Naruto folded his arms as he listened. "And what might that be?"

"Well…you remember those S-Class quests on the second floor…?"

Naruto raised an eyebrow and then looked at her surprised. "You didn't…"

Lucy waved her hands in wild protest. "No, no! Not me, Natsu and Happy. They snuck up there and grabbed one."

"So, you want my help knocking sense into them?"

Lucy put her hands behind her back in slight embarrassment. "Well…no…I was actually hoping you'd help us complete it."

Naruto looked at her curiously and then smirked, "I didn't take you for a rule breaker. I thought that was mostly my thing."

Lucy shook her head wildly. "No, you've got it wrong! Originally I wasn't going to take it, but then…look at part of the reward."

Naruto raised an eyebrow and looked at the flier, and noticed that it stated a Zodiac Key was included in the reward. Naruto looked at it curiously when he suddenly remembered something. "Okay, I'll do it."

"Really?! That was easy."

Naruto shook his head. "In return, I want you to do something for me."

Lucy shrunk back some. "It's nothing…weird, is it?"

"No! I'm not that kinda person!"

**'_I am._'**

'_Nobody asked you!_'

Lucy nodded in curiosity, responding, "Okay then, what?"

"I found something inside the remains of Lullaby, and it looks like something you'd know about." Naruto then pulled out the strange key from his pouch and handed it to her.

Lucy looked at it shocked. "No way! This is a Zodiac Key!"

"It is?"

Lucy nodded emphatically, but then paused and looked at it puzzled. "…Huh…"

"Something wrong?"

"…Yeah…I, I mean no, but…I don't recognize this key. I've never seen it before."

Naruto sighed in defeat. "Great…so you're no help at all…"

Lucy shook her head. "No, I might not know anything about it, but I know someone who will."

"Really?"

Lucy nodded and motioned him to follow. "Just follow me to my apartment and we should be able to figure this all out."

Naruto nodded plainly and followed behind her.

* * *

Naruto followed Lucy into her apartment, when she set the key down on her bed and pulled a different one from her key ring. Silver key with a cross-like marking near the base. She then summoned a spirit by chanting, "Open, Gate of the Southern Cross, Crux!"

From a magic circle appeared an aged-looking Celestial Spirit with a head and torso that was a large metal cross with golden, floral-like patterns adorning it, a white mustache shaped like crosses which sprouted from his nose, closed eyes, he also orange arms and legs attached to the sides and bottom of his torso, his arms having blue knots on the elbows and wrists and his legs having green pants and wooden shoes.

Naruto looked at the being in front of him disturbed. "Uhm…what is that?"

Lucy motioned to the Celestial Spirit and answered, "This is Grandpa Crux, another one of my Celestial Spirits."

Naruto nodded in slight confusion and then asked, "So, will he be able to help with info on that thing?"

Lucy nodded. "Yup! If there's one thing Grandpa Crux is good at, it's finding information." Pulling out the special she held it in front of the Celestial Spirit and asked, "Crux, I'd like you to tell me anything you can find on this key."

A moment later Crux slumped over with a snot bubble on one side of his nose.

Naruto blinked curiously. "He's…asleep."

"Not really, he's looking for info."

After a few seconds Crux's eyes snapped open and shouted, before closing his eyes and answering timidly, "I-I do not know where you obtained such a key, but it is best you discard it. Th-that key…is the Key of the Snake Charmer…Ophiuchus."

Lucy blinked in confusion. "Ophiuchus…never heard of it."

"It is a forbidden Gate Key. Unlike most Celestial Spirits, Ophiuchus will not die if left in the human world, it will simply continue to drain its summoner's mana to live. And it won't stop until it is sent back to the Spirit Realm…or until the summoner runs out…"

Naruto narrowed his eyes in worry as Lucy examined the strange key.

Looking at it, Lucy commented, "Wow…it's so dangerous…no wonder it's a forbidden key. Though…why was it in Lullaby…?"

Naruto shrugged in response. "Can't say. I just know that's where I found it."

Lucy nodded and handed it back to him. "Here, I'd say you should keep it since you're the one who found it."

Naruto nodded and accepted it, but then looked at her incredulously. "Are you saying that just 'cuz you think it's right or because you're scared to have it?"

Lucy backed up and laughed weakly. "No, not at all…you're the one who found it sooo…you should keep it."

Naruto shrugged the feeling off and stowed the key in his pouch. '_Well, it's not like I'm hurtin' for mana or anything._' "Alright, thanks for the help Lucy, guess that means I'm along for the ride with this little venture Natsu's cooked up."

Lucy nodded in return. "Thanks. Though…could you keep it a secret from Erza?"

Naruto snickered and then pointed to himself with his thumb. "You don't know who you're talkin' to, this kinda stuff is what I lived for back home."

Lucy nodded appreciatively before Naruto turned to leave.

* * *

Back at the guildhall, Makarov sat on one of the barstools drinking a beer peacefully as Mirajane walked up to him with a concerned expression.

"Master, one of the S-Class Quests on the upper level is missing."

After a few seconds with no response Makarov suddenly spat his drink out, shouting, "WHAT!?"

Mirajane nodded. "Yes, somebody stole one."

Cana sighed in annoyance. "Geez, who could be dumb enough to do something like that?"

Laxus, who was yet again on the upper level, chimed in, "I saw a cat with wings carrying it out of here earlier."

The whole guild then groaned in annoyance, "…Natsu…"

Laxus then looked down at the others disinterested. "Since they took it without permission, they'll need to be expelled when they return. _If_ they return that is."

Makarov scratched his head in exacerbation. He then looked up at Laxus. "Laxus, go and bring them back."

Laxus sneered at the old man. "Che, yeah right. I don't care if those idiots come back."

Makarov groaned. "Rats…who else could force Natsu to return…?"

"I'll do it gramps," Gray offered beside him.

Makarov looked at Gray puzzled. "Really? Then do it."

* * *

Naruto, Natsu, Lucy, and Happy were making their way to the port of Hargeon, where the job is centered, when Naruto asked, "So what are the details of this job anyway?"

Lucy nodded and explained, "It's pretty simple really. There's an island with a curse, and our job is to find a way to lift the curse."

Naruto nodded in thought. "Well if I'm right a curse is just a weird disruption of chakra or mana, meaning there should be some way to even it out."

"Uhm…huh…?"

Naruto looked at Lucy for a moment and then shook his head. "It's, er, nothing."

Naruto looked at Lucy for a moment and then shook his head. "It's, er, nothing."

Lucy nodded and then suggested, "Well, we're not going to get out to the island like this, so we should start seeing if anyone will take us there."

Naruto and Natsu nodded in agreement.

* * *

That was a task easier said than done. It seemed that no one was willing to take the group out to Galuna Island, every one of them becoming immediately skittish and frightened just at the thought of going out to the island, due to its curse.

Eventually they reached the last sailor they could find, a dark-skinned man with black hair, including a mustache which extends from his nose to around his mouth and chin, with dark eyes and wearing a blue cap over his hair, a light green cape draped around his body, though his right side was exposed, showing a white t-shirt, dark blue pants held up by a pink rope tied around his waist like a belt, and black boots.

The man sighed and turned away despondent. "Sorry, I can't do that."

"Come on, please?" Lucy asked sweetly.

The man shook his head.

Lucy sighed and turned to leave with Naruto and the others.

The group were then accosted by a most undesirable voice, Gray. "So, this is where you guys ran off to."

All four froze and turned around to see Gray behind them.

Lucy laughed weakly. "H-hi…Gray…"

Gray folded his arms in annoyance. "You guys better come on back. If you don't head back with me now, then you'll be expelled from the guild." He then turned to Naruto. "And that goes double for you, since you haven't even been in the guild that long."

Naruto turned away with an annoyed huff. "Yeah, whatever."

Natsu snarled at Gray. "There's no way we're headin' back!"

Gray twitched an eyebrow as mana began to flow around him. "Don't make me force you fire-breath."

Natsu's own mana began to build in anger. "Just try and make ice-brain."

Naruto noticed that their argument and building mana was attracting attention he tried to calm them. "Hey, c'mon guys, I don't really think this is the place we wanna be fighting."

The two merely ignored him.

Naruto twitched an eyebrow and shouted, "Listen!"

Again nothing.

Naruto sighed and raised his hand towards them, "I didn't want to do this. Universal Pull!"

Suddenly both Gray and Natsu were beset upon by an invisible force pushing them down before they were both slammed face-first into the ground unable to move.

Naruto looked down at them with an annoyed expression. "Ready to listen now?"

The two nodded weakly under the pressure before Naruto released it and they stood up.

Natsu and Gray looked at Naruto surprised. Natsu remarked, "Is it just me, or was he almost as scary as Erza just now?"

Gray answered, "Nobody's as scary as her…but he was close…"

Naruto sighed but then the last sailor they had asked before walked up to them.

"Excuse me, you're wizards, aren't you?"

Naruto turned to him and nodded. "Yeah…more or less."

The man frowned in thought and then nodded to himself. "So that means you're here to lift the curse, right?"

Naruto raised an eyebrow and nodded again, folding his arms over his scaly chainmail.

"Then I'll take you to the island."

Gray was about to protest but a swift roundhouse from Natsu straight into a wall knocked him unconscious.

Naruto looked at Natsu worried. "You do know he's on our side…right?"

Natsu flung the unconscious Gray over his shoulders and chuckled. "Yeah, whatever. He was tryin' to stop us, so now we just need to tie 'im up 'til we're done with the job, right?"

Naruto couldn't help but be amused at Natsu's methodology and nodded. "Yup, I guess that's that then." Naruto then raised an eyebrow and asked. "Wait…why're we bringing him with us? Why not just leave him here?"

Natsu paled and responded, "You crazy? If we just leave'im here he'll go back to the guild, and then they'll send Erza after us."

Naruto folded his arms with a rather worried expression. "That's…a rather valid point…I really don't want her to come after us. So let's hope we can finish this up before Makarov decides to send her in Gray's stead."

Natsu and Lucy agreed as they turned to the sailor.

He nodded and ushered them onto his boat.

* * *

On the way to the island, Natsu was, as usual, slumped over the side of the boat groaning and hurling his toenails, while the sailor, who revealed his name to be Bobo, explained exactly what the curse of Galuna Island entailed.

Naruto, Lucy, and Happy looked Bobo in shock.

"N-no way…" Naruto exhaled in shock.

What they saw was his left arm, which was normally covered by his cape, had been twisted into an abnormal state, with purple, scaly, spotted skin, and long claws on his fingers.

Naruto looked at Bobo still in confusion but began to notice something rather strange. He covered his eyes, appearing to be disturbed by the sight of his twisted arm, before activating his Ryugan behind them. He narrowed his eyes in curiosity before deactivating his Ryugan and pulling his hand down.

Bobo covered up his arm and bowed slightly. "Sorry, I didn't mean to terrify you."

Naruto shook his head in response. "I wouldn't say terrified."

"I would!" Happy interjected before Naruto slammed him down.

"More…surprised."

Bobo nodded and then looked towards the island. "Yes, I was originally from Galuna Island, but left when the curse became too much to bear."

Naruto and the others nodded before turning to the island itself, at which point Naruto raised an eyebrow when he noticed a strange shimmer in the sky.

He and the others then turned back to speak to Bobo again but noticed he had disappeared, Lucy turning pale.

Naruto glanced up into the sky before the boat was engulfed in a large wave and they were swept into the water by it.

* * *

Naruto slowly came to, realizing he was on dry land at that point, and shook his head clear of the fog and looked around, seeing the others.

Lucy was lying right next to him so she was the first he awoke.

"Hey, come on, wake up."

Lucy mumbled before slowly waking up, the first thing she sees being Naruto's face right in front of her. "Aah!" she screamed before punching him in the face.

Naruto rolled over on his side in pain before sitting up and shouting, "What the hell was that for!?"

Lucy shouted back, "You shouldn't scare a lady like that!"

Naruto looked at her flatly for a moment.

"If you say what I know you're thinking of saying I'll kill you."

"Fair enough." Naruto and Lucy then stood up and saw Gray, Natsu, and Happy lying on the ground nearby, so they proceeded to wake them as well.

After awaking the other two, Gray looked around and growled in frustration. "Damn, so, I guess we're stuck here for the moment, huh?"

Naruto nodded in agreement as he helped pump the water out of Natsu's lungs.

Gray then folded his arms and looked around. "Well, since we're already on the island, I suppose we might as well see this thing through to the end. Also, if we complete this job successfully, Master Makarov will have to acknowledge us for it."

Naruto nodded as Lucy helped Natsu stand. "Yeah, plus I've got a feeling we haven't got the full story here."

Gray raised an eyebrow curiously. "Why's that?"

"I can't say yet, there are just a few things that don't seem to quite fit." Naruto then scratched his head furiously. "Aaah! If Shikamaru were here he'd be able to find everything that's wrong with this crap."

"Shikamaru?" Gray wondered aloud.

Naruto waved a hand dismissively. "Just someone I used to know. Gai and Lee would know him, but for now we can't worry about that. There should be a village not too far from here, maybe we can get some answers if we go there."

Gray nodded and the five headed out into the vast forest ahead of them.

* * *

Soon enough they find their way to the small village in the middle of the island where the job request had initially come from.

It was then that the villagers began coming out of their homes and towards the village square where Naruto and the others were, and when the group realized how extensive the curse was. Every single villager had one limb or another that had been twisted into what looked like the limb of a monster or a devil.

The village chief, a short, old man with tan skin, long silver sideburns running from the length of his face down to his hips, small dark eyes, and wearing a necklace made of what appeared to be large animal teeth centered with a skull, a dark blue cape that draped down from his shoulders to the back of his knees, a white, tribal kilt with two green lines at the bottom and a red dot circled by a red circle, a series of golden rings on his wrists and legs, his right forearm resembling a large blue claw, walked up to the group, his long wooden staff with a crescent moon-shaped head helping him stand, and asked, "I am Moka, the village chief. Are you the wizards who have come to lift our curse?"

Naruto and the others looked to each other momentarily in a silent discussion, before Naruto turned to the old man and nodded. "Yes, we're here to help. Though, it'd help if you told us a little more about this…curse of yours."

Moka nodded and told them, "It started some time ago, though I do not remember exactly, when the moon turned a deep purple color in the sky. Whenever the moon shines down directly on us our bodies morph into that of demons."

Lucy was about to ask a question when the clouds in the sky, which had been hiding the moon from view, moved aside and allowed the light to shine down directly onto the tribe, all of them morphing fully into demonic forms.

Lucy and the others were taken aback, Naruto was even startled himself.

Moka then continued, "Normally, by morning we transform back into our human forms, but sometimes the transformation is complete and permanent, the victim losing their mind entirely." Tears then began to flow from the old man's eyes. "And when this happens, we have no choice but to kill that person before they harm the rest of us. Such was the case with my son, Bobo."

The group froze and Naruto had turned pale.

Naruto then asked timidly. "Y-you m-mean h-he's…d-d-dead…?"

The old man nodded.

Naruto fell over in a heap.

"Ah! Naruto!" Lucy shrieked.

"I guess he really doesn't like ghosts, does he?" Happy remarked playfully.

Naruto managed to compose himself enough to ask. "So, what exactly is it you want us to do?"

Moka nodded and then pointed upward. "I want you to destroy the moon!"

"WHAT!?" they all shouted in shock.

Naruto face-palmed and moaned, "Seriously? The moon…again? Why is it always the moon? First Father wanted to use it to become God, then Madara wanted to use it to enslave humanity, and now this old coot wants us to destroy it? I'm seriously getting tired of this."

Lucy then asked, "Erm, Naruto, what are you talking about?"

Sighing, Naruto responded, "Nothing, nothing, just ignore me." Naruto then scratched his head in thought. "Well…doing something like that will take time to plan out, so do you mind if we stay a night or two?"

Moka shook his head. "No, it is quite alright, we have a spare house you may use."

Naruto nodded in appreciation before the group made their way towards it.

* * *

Naruto flopped into one of the beds that he, Gray, Natsu, and Happy were sharing, Lucy staying in the other room of the house by herself. After a moment he turned and looked out the window, seeing the violet moon outside. Narrowing his eyes in thought, he wondered, '_Something just seems off here. How come the moon is so purple…only here…?_' Naruto then sat up and walked toward the door.

"Where ya goin'?" Gray asked.

"Just got something that's bothering me about this, so I'm going to check it out."

Gray then sat up. "It's not like I've got anything better to do, mind if I come with?"

Naruto shook his head. "Not really, though you should get some sleep."

"And what about you?"

Naruto chuckled. "I'm a special case, I don't really need all that much sleep."

Gray shrugged his shoulders as he stood up and threw on his white coat. "Doesn't mean I'm stayin' here with _him_."

Gray looked at Natsu, who was peacefully snoring up a storm.

Naruto shrugged in response. "Sure, whatever you say."

* * *

Naruto and Gray approached the shore where they had originally washed up and Naruto looked around.

Gray also looked around but then turned to Naruto. "So what exactly are you looking for?"

Naruto sighed as he scratched his head and then turned around. "The moon still looks violet to you, right?"

Gray nodded in agreement. "Yeah, why?"

Naruto narrowed his eyes and then asked, "Could you do me a favor?"

Gray raised an eyebrow curiously. "What do you want me to do?"

"You can turn water into ice, right?"

"Of course, even a child can do it."

"I'd like you to go out a ways onto the water and then look up at the moon."

"That seems rather redundant, I can see it just fine from here."

Naruto shook his head. "No, it's not just looking at it, it's _where_ you're looking at it. Have you ever noticed a violet moon anywhere else in the world except tonight, here?"

Gray thought for a moment and then widened his eyes in surprise.

* * *

Gray finished making a walkway of ice over the ocean waters, though it wasn't exactly a cakewalk with the rough waters. After just walking for a few minutes he stopped and turned around, his heart nearly jumped into his throat.

* * *

Naruto waited as Gray returned to the shore and looked at the ice-user curiously.

Gray merely nodded.

Naruto folded his arms and sighed in thought. "I see. So that means that the problem here isn't the moon, it's the island itself. Though what the hell could cause an effect like that?"

Gray shrugged his shoulders. "No clue. But I don't think wandering around aimlessly like this in the night will help anything."

Naruto nodded in agreement as they returned to the village to turn in for the night.

* * *

The following day, after everyone got up, Naruto explained the situation to Lucy and Natsu.

"The problem is local to the island, and not the moon."

Lucy and Natsu looked at Naruto confused.

"How can you tell?" Lucy asked.

Gray answered, "We went out to the water last night and checked it out. Once you get a certain distance from the island, the moon looks normal."

Natsu moaned in confusion while Lucy narrowed her eyes.

"What could it mean?" she asked.

Naruto shook his head. "I'm not certain, but whatever's going on it's localized to the island itself. So we should start be looking around for clues."

The others nodded in agreement and headed out to investigate immediately.

* * *

They looked through section of forest after section of forest, finding nothing but traps, all of which Natsu activated, getting Lucy or Naruto hurt, or finding a whole lot of nothing.

That was until they heard a low rumbling noise.

Lucy glared at Natsu accusingly. "Natsu! What'd you do now?!"

Natsu shrunk down somewhat in fear. "I didn't do anything…"

Happy then interjected, "Yeah, for once this is something Natsu had nothing to do with."

"Hey! Happy!"

The team then turned when they heard a loud roar.

Naruto turned pale and asked, "Erm…is that…a giant mouse…in a maid outfit…?"

Lucy and Gray nodded in astonishment.

"And here I thought a crazy woman popping out of black slime was the weirdest thing that's ever happened to me."

"Why do you keep saying weird stuff?!" Lucy protested when the giant mouse attempted to step on them.

"Run!" Naruto ordered, the team immediately began running.

As the mouse continued to pursue them, Lucy whined, "Aw man, where's a giant cat when you need one!?"

Naruto raised an eyebrow in thought. '_Hey, Ryuujin?_'

**'_Yeah, it'll take me a minute or two._'**

'_Well work as fast as you can._'

Natsu stopped and turned toward the beast, before jumping up into the air and lunging at it with a flaming fist. "Fire Dragon Iron Fist!"

Unfortunately for him the attack had no effect and he merely bounced off.

Lucy paled and pulled out a key and shouted, "Open, gate of the clock, Horologium!"

Out of the same magic circle and burst of smoke as the other keys, a tall, brown, grandfather clock with long black arms, a normal clock face on his chest, and a small face at the top with slit-eyes and a thin, twirled mustache appeared. Lucy immediately opened he glass case and she and Happy hid inside.

"Let's hide in here, we'll be safe, the lady says," the clock remarked, as Lucy's words were silent to everyone else.

Natsu and Gray continued pummeling the giant mouse with attacks, to no avail.

"Dammit, what's this thing made of!?" Gray asked angrily.

"Gray, Natsu, move!" Naruto order as he slammed a hand on the ground, a spider web-like seal appearing underneath his hand. "Tailed Beast Summoning: Matatabi!"

A massive plume of smoke erupted in front of the giant mouse as a huge cat with two tails, heterochromatic eyes, one yellow one green, and made of blue fire appeared.

The mouse looked at the twin-tail cat in disbelief before shrieking in horror as the cat gave chase.

"What on earth was that, the lady asks," Horologium again repeated.

Naruto just looked at her puzzled. "Erm…why are you inside a clock?"

"Because everyone and everything is crazy, she answers distressed."

Naruto twitched an eyebrow and just slumped his shoulders in exhaustion.

* * *

**Well, that does it for this chapter. Hope there are those of you who enjoyed it and are waiting for the next one.  
**

***CRASH***

**Seriously? Again? Stop putting holes in my wall you idiots! Don't make me get Erza down here to straighten your asses!  
**

**"No please! Don't!"**

**Never thought I'd hear you two speak in perfect sync. Anyway, if you want to live fix my damn wall.**

**"Ice-Make: Wall!"**

**That's...not what I meant.**


	5. Galuna Island

**Chapter IV**

**Well, for those concerned this is the newest chapter of Fairy Tail's Dragon God. As before, no reviewer responses so we'll just be heading straight into the story. One thing I will do is answer a question a few people, who weren't posting acidic nonsense, poised. The Tailed Beasts gain all of Ryuujin's memories when they form. I will also admit one thing, I was slightly mistaken about the mythology of FMA. It's actually the thing inside the Gate of Truth that's all powerful, not Truth itself. I have added to be revealed changes to account for this however. Also as usual I'd like to thank my coauthors Bakuto Masaki and seeker of true anime fan fic. Let's get started I suppose.**

**"Hey!"**

**Oh great...another one.**

**"So this is where you are."**

**Happy? How did you get here?  
**

**"Plue plue."**

**"Plue found it. I just followed him."**

**Okay. Well at least you guys aren't as annoying as the others. So what do you think about Naruto?**

**"Well...I guess he's interesting at least. I hope he can give me fish!"**

**"Plue, plue plue, plue."**

**Uhm...what...?**

**"I can translate, sir!"**

**Please do.**

**"Aye, sir! Plue said he's alright. He hopes Naruto can help Team Rave. Especially Elie."**

**I see. Well...let's just say he will down the line.**

**"Oolala."**

**Be quiet. Anyway, thanks for coming, you guys can just wait over there now.**

**"Wait! You can't throw fish!"**

**And there he goes. By Plue.**

* * *

Naruto, Lucy, Gray, Natsu, Happy, and Horologium watched as the massive mouse in a maid uniform was chased by the Two-Tailed Cat Matatabi.

"So…how long will this keep up?" Gray asked.

Naruto scratched his head and answered, "Right about…now."

At that moment Matatabi clamped her jaw on the mouse's side lifted it in the air and threw it aside, wailing in pain as it plummeted off a cliff into the ocean.

Horologium then spoke for Lucy again, "Wasn't that rather mean, the girl asks conflicted."

Naruto shrugged in response. "I think when something's trying to kill you, killing it right back is natural."

"You're cold, the blue cat chastises harshly."

"Wanna know what real cold is furball?" Naruto asked annoyed.

"No, no, no he answers frantically."

At that moment Horologium vanished in a burst of smoke as Lucy and Happy fell to the ground.

Naruto then immediately grabbed Happy by the cheeks and began to stretch his face. "Who's cold now catbreath?"

**"Naruto…"**

The others stopped and looked up as Matatabi looked down at them.

"It can talk?!" Lucy asked in astonishment.

Naruto lightly chucked Happy at her, the cat bouncing off her annoyed head. "Matatabi's not an it, she's a she."

**"Naruto, did you summon me solely to handle that rodent?"**

Naruto shrugged and then scratched the back of his head. "That's not a problem is it?"

**"Not at all, it's just if you have nothing else then I'll be heading back."**

Naruto nodded in agreement as the feline disappeared in a massive burst of smoke.

Lucy sighed and then asked timidly, "So what now?"

Gray folded his arms and then recommended, "We look around. We need to figure out what's causing the disturbance."

Natsu gave a groan of annoyance. "Disturbance? It's a curse dummy."

Gray growled and prepared to shout at Natsu and then sighed. He then glanced to Naruto who nodded.

Lucy looked between them and then asked curiously, "You two know something, don't you?"

Naruto nodded and then looked up at the sky. "Last night, you noticed the moon as well, right?"

Natsu nodded dismissively as he stuck a finger in his nose. "Duh. It was bright pink."

"Tell me, doesn't that seem odd?"

Lucy narrowed her eyes and answered with trepidation, "Well…yeah…"

"But have you ever seen it that color anywhere else in the world at any other time?"

Natsu just froze in place as he attempted and failed to think about what Naruto was talking about while Lucy put a hand on her chin as she pondered his words as well. She then raised an eyebrow. "Wait, you mean…?"

Naruto nodded in acknowledgement. "Yes. The problem is relegated to the island itself. Gray and I went out to the edge of the island on the water."

Gray cleared his throat and interjected, "Correction, _I_ went out onto the water while you just sat on the beach."

Gray then found his head stuck in a tree as Naruto continued, "And what we saw was that a strange dome of energy with a violet color is surrounding the island. I believe that this dome of energy is somehow involved with the villagers' transformation."

After a moment Gray pulled his head out of the tree and snarled in annoyance. "Anyway, if we can find the source of this thing and deactivate it that should cure the villagers."

Natsu slammed his fists together happily. "Perfect. I'm great at breakin' things."

Lucy then commented dryly, "Hey look at that, the one time Natsu's reckless behavior could be beneficial."

* * *

After that, the group made their way around the island, finding nothing but plant life and wild animals. They did occasionally find the odd ancient piece of debris but it led to nothing until they happened upon a large, ancient temple.

"Whoa…that thing's huge…" Natsu commented as he looked up towards the top of the temple.

"Certainly seems that way, though I do wonder where the entrance is," Naruto thought aloud.

Natsu clenched his fists as he walked up to the aged building. "If we can't find the entrance we'll just make our own! Fire Dragon Iron-!"

"No," Lucy muttered flatly as she smacked Natsu on the back of the head, slamming him straight into the ground. Lucy then turned to Naruto and remarked, "You can walk through walls, right? You said so yourself. Think you could do us the favor of finding the entrance?"

Naruto shrugged and activated his Ryugan before making his way over to the structure and through the outer wall.

* * *

Once inside Naruto noticed the elaborate stonework of the inner walls and intricate carvings adorning the stones themselves. He looked around and noticed a lack of light coming in but then noticed a small trace of light down one hallway and made his way towards it.

* * *

Following for nearly a minute he eventually found his out through an entrance and looked around. "Well…I have no idea where I am." He then got an idea and reactivated his Ryugan and looked around, eventually finding the chakra signatures of his comrades and making his way towards them around the structure.

* * *

Leading them back to and through the passageways he had used himself was easy enough, though finding a pathway to anywhere significant seemed fruitless.

Lucy was herself particularly tense. "You know…this temple has to be thousands of years old. You sure it's safe?"

Natsu grinned and answered as he stamped a foot, "'Course it is! It can handle me stamping can't it?!"

A lumbering cracking and creaking sound then emanated through the area.

"Uh-oh…" Naruto mumbled worriedly. "This won't end well."

At that moment the ground they were standing on cracked and crumbled, causing the whole group to plummet straight down a deep hole into an abyss of darkness.

* * *

After a few moments the group reawakened and looked around.

Naruto patted his sore neck and remarked in annoyance, "I'm getting real tired of winding in new places like this, y'know."

Lucy sighed as she sat up. "Geez, my hair's getting totally messed up with all this tumbling and falling."

As Gray adjusted his shoulder he rebutted, "I think your hair isn't as important as my arm. Doesn't feel broken at least."

The others nodded in agreement before looking around.

"Geez…so we went from a forest, to a temple, to a giant cave. What's next, a giant block of ice, y'know?" Naruto asked in jest.

* * *

The team paled as they perused the caves before finding a massive block of ice inside a cavern.

"Th-this is…ridiculous," Lucy mumbled in disbelief.

However, after a moment of gawking, Naruto narrowed as his eyes as he looked at the ice chunk. "Hang on a sec…I think…there's something inside it." They then noticed a massive, humanoid, monstrous creature inside the block of ice. "There is! There's something inside the ice, y'know!"

"This…can't be…" Gray remarked in awe and fear.

The others turned and noticed him trembling.

"Gray…?" Lucy asked worriedly. "What's wrong…?"

"That…thing. That's a demon…called Deliora…"

Naruto gasped as he heard those words. "D-d-demon, y'know!? They're real, y'know!?" He then noticed the disbelieving looks he got from the others. "Wh-what…y'know…?"

"There's nothing mythical about demons," Lucy answered plainly. "Pretty much everyone knows Zeref created a bunch of them a long time ago."

Naruto blinked and then gulped. "Wait…you mean the same wacko that made Lullaby made the demons? Well that's…terrifying. Where I'm from they're just legends and fairytales. I didn't think they really existed or were so…big."

"This one's an exception," Gray interrupted.

"Whaddya mean?" Natsu asked frustrated.

"Deliora's an extremely powerful demon that ravaged my homeland and destroyed the entire countryside ten years ago. Ur, the woman who taught me how to use Ice Make Magic in the first place, gave her life to seal this thing away for good. So why the hell is it here!?"

Naruto turned around as he heard sounds coming up from behind them. "Everyone, hide!" he shouted in a whisper.

As they all ducked behind a rock, a group of people approached the frozen Deliora.

The first of the group was a slim young man with extremely bushy, squared, black eyebrows, black eyes, and bright blue hair spiking upwards with one prominent spike at the top who wore a green coat reaching down to his knees with dark green sections on the outer arms and the side's lower sections, a plain belt with a rectangular buckle over the coat, two vertical hems that helped keep the coat closed, dark blue pants that were baggy and loose fitting and light grey shoes.

The second member of the group was a lean-built, muscular young man with shoulder-length, straight brown hair, large round eyes with dark irises and pupils, slim, dark brown eyebrows, lightly tanned skin, a dark tattoo on his right upper arm that had the symbols for "sashimi" printed on it, and distinctive animal features, ears and a doglike muzzle on his face, who wore extremely loose-fitting jeans that were lightly tattered, a black belt to hold them up, and a pair of simple, dark-brown shoes.

The third and final member of the group was a young woman with long pink hair tied into pigtails, blue eyes, fair skin, and the same large breasts Naruto was beginning to think were contagious on that planet in addition to wearing a choker tied into a ribbon, a purple and pink, short, spaghetti-strap dress with light pink trimmings, two long, thin wings on the back, as well as black leggings, and high-heeled sandals.

The young woman of the group entered the area perturbed, unlike the rest, and muttered angrily, "We must find and punish the people who hurt Angelica."

"Calm down Sherry," the blue-haired man warned, "getting unduly angry now won't solve anything. We'll need to find out who did it first."

"Don't tell me to calm down, Yuka! Those people, whoever they are, hurt my wonderful pet rat Angelica. Don't you agree Toby?" the woman, Angelica asked.

The dog man paled and muttered, "Oon…I don't know…I guess we should…"

Yuka then interjected. "We must, whether we should isn't the problem. They can't be allowed to interfere with Deliora's release. We'll collect enough moonlight soon."

Naruto grew weary of their banter and quietly clapped his hands together before pressing one against the stone. In doing so he caused chunks of stone several paces back to fall, distracting the three as they ran off to investigate.

After assessing that they were gone the team stepped out and turned their gaze back to Deliora.

"Geez…I don't know what the hell's going on but this is insane," Naruto remarked as he rubbed the back of his head in thought.

Gray clenched his fists angrily and added, "I don't know who these clowns think they are, but they've got to be stopped. They plan on releasing Deliora, and tarnishing Ur's sacrifice. I _won't_ let that happen."

Naruto nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I'm not sure what this is all actually about but if that thing is half as powerful as you've led me to believe these a-holes need to be put down."

Lucy looked at the frozen demon for several minutes before asking, "You think Deliora has something to do with that dome of energy around the island?"

"Undoubtedly. Although exactly how that dome and Deliora are connected I can't begin to imagine."

Gray then added, "There's no way they're _not_ connected. Despite being frozen in that ice, Deliora is in fact alive."

Natsu slammed his fists together and suggested excitedly, "Then let's just destroy it!"

Gray scowled at Natsu before punching him hard.

"Wow!" Happy exclaimed. "He hit him hard!"

Naruto and Lucy muttered in unified deadpan, "It's not all that rare."

"Stay away from Deliora Natsu! If this thing gets free no one would be able to stop it!" Gray shouted at Natsu. Gray sighed and then turned back to Deliora before adding, "My teacher, Ur, froze Deliora in that ice using Iced Shell. It's a kind of never-melting ice that is resistant to all types of magic. But why would those bastards bring it here?"

Lucy then opined, "Why don't we follow those weirdos and get information from them?"

Gray shook his head. "No, we should stay here and wait until the moon is high in the sky."

Naruto raised an eyebrow curiously. "Care to explain what the moon has to do with anything?"

Gray narrowed his eyes and answered, "I'm not certain, but I overheard one of those nonnatives say, 'We'll collect enough moonlight soon.' I don't know what he meant exactly, but the moon and Deliora are obviously connected somehow."

Naruto sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. "Good grief. So how'd we get ourselves in this mess again? Whatever, hopefully we can figure out what's going on here and stop it before this super monster gets out."

The others nodded in agreement as they all sat down to wait for night to arrive.

* * *

It took only a short while for Natsu to fall asleep from boredom.

As they waited, Gray remembered some of his time with Ur.

* * *

_A young Gray stood in the middle of a snowy tundra, in front of a slim young woman with a curvaceous figure and short, dark purple hair, black eyes, and fair skin who wore a tan jacket with a dark brown collar, a red tank top, and jeans. The woman smirked at Gray and inquired in amusement, "So, think you'll be able to survive my training?"_

_Gray answered confidently, "I will do whatever it takes, Ur!"_

* * *

As he thought, he heard Lucy moan with boredom.

She then perked up as she got an idea. "I know how we can pass the time!"

Naruto and Gray looked at her puzzled.

Lucy then summoned a new Celestial Spirit, a girl with waist-length, curly blonde hair, black eyes, and round, ever-present blush marks on her cheeks that wore a pink bonnet on top of her head, a long blue dress with pink fringe and heart shaped patterns on the waist, leather shoes, small white wings on the back, and a large harp slung over her back. "Heyyy, Lucy!"

"Hey Lyra," Lucy responded.

Lyra then frowned and asked, "You know, why don't you summon me more often Lucy? It gets boring in the Spirit Realm."

Lucy twitched an eyebrow and answered, "You're the one who said you can only be summoned three times a month."

Lyra sweat-dropped as she chuckled weakly, "Oh…right…"

Lucy shook her head and then asked, "We're all sitting here bored. Think you could play a song for us?"

Lyra smiled happily and gave an excited thumbs up. "You bet! Any requests?"

Lucy put a hand on her cheek in thought and then shook her head. "Not really, just something nice."

Lyra nodded in understanding and pulled out her harp and began strumming on it before singing a heart-felt, sad song.

As the group listened, Lucy, Natsu, Happy, and Naruto were pleased with the music as Lyra played.

As Lyra played her music, more memories of Ur filled Gray's mind.

* * *

_Gray stood in the same tundra with Ur, his hands in the Ice-Make pose as he shouted, "Ice-Make: Shield!" A small, pointed shield of ice rose out of the snow in front of him. _

_Gray turned to Ur expectantly as she smiled with a nod in acknowledgement._

* * *

The memory caused tears to roll down Gray's face as he remembered his time with Ur.

Naruto noticed this but couldn't decide how to react and just signaled to Lucy it was time to give it a rest.

Seeing Gray's reaction, Lucy nodded silently and motioned Lyra to stop.

Moments later, the team all ended up falling asleep, though Naruto himself wasn't able to sleep fully as Lyra's song had churned up memories of his own.

* * *

_Naruto was laying under a tree in midday after an exhaustive day of training._

_As the leaves rustled above him, he cracked an eye open when he heard someone walking towards him. He sat up and greeted to person, a_ _beautiful young woman with a large bust and long black hair that fell to her waist in waves, some covering her left eye, both of which were still closed, and she wore a form fitting black dress that came to just above her breasts with shoulder length gloves that had red lines running down the sides ending in black circles on the backs of her hands._

_Naruto smirked as the woman sat down next to him._

* * *

The group was awakened, and Naruto's memory interrupted, by a light tremor shaking the area.

The all awoke and looked around before looking at the ceiling.

Violet colored light was pouring down from a magical circle above Deliora.

They watched in shock as drips of water started to roll down the block of ice.

"Come on! We gotta find out what's causing this!" Naruto shouted as the group ran out of the cavern.

* * *

The team then ran up the temple to the roof, where they found an encirclement of mages around a magic circle chanting an incantation, which absorbed light from the moon, sending it down to Deliora.

As they saw it, Lyra explained, "That spell…it's the Moon-Drip."

"Moon-Drip?" Naruto asked.

Lyra nodded. "Yes. It's an ancient, powerful spell used to harness moonlight and nullify any magical effect, including the unbreakable Iced Shell."

Naruto and the others attempted to think of a solution as five figures walked up to the chanting wizards.

Among them were Yuka, Sherry, and Toby.

Among them was also a young man with short, messy brown hair that had several strands hanging over his face with most of it combed back and brown eyes wearing a plain white shirt, a knee-length coat with multiple buckles and intricate designs on the shoulders, simple brown pants, tall beige boots, and two weapons, a revolver stored at his side and a long, black and yellow blade on his back.

The other was a slim young man of average height whose facial features were hidden by an ornamental, horned helmet with a long purple mane, a large white cape with a wide collar, golden edges, and fur trimmings on the shoulders held closed by a belt adorned by a stylized snake with rectangular coils, underneath which was a blue, high-collared tunic that reach his knees, with a simple belt at his waist holding it closed, over a simple dark shirt, black baggy pants tucked inside armored greaves.

As the group approached the mages, Yuka asked, "What do we do about the intruders, Reitei?"

The masked man, Reitei, answered, "There is not much we can do with them for now. However, it is obvious the villagers have called for reinforcements. That is a problem. Yuka. Sherry. Toby. Destroy the village."

"Sir!" All three answered and ran off.

Reitei turned to the man with the sword and ordered, "Alvin, you know what to do."

Alvin nodded in understanding. "Don't worry, I won't screw up with _that_ much money on the table."

"Good to hear."

Naruto grit his teeth. "Damn, they're going to-!" he was interrupted as Natsu ran out from their hiding place.

"You bastards!" Natsu shouted as he ran towards the duo with his fist inflamed.

Reitei sneered and turned to Alvin. "I will deal with this one, you find the others."

Alvin nodded but at that moment Gray also burst from hiding, outpacing Natsu to Reitei, shouting, "Lyon!" Before taking his Ice-Make pose and shouting, "Ice-Make: Lance!" A magic circle appeared in front of him and shot multiple spears of ice at Reitei.

Reitei flinched momentarily but then raised a hand and blocked Gray's attack with a wall of ice.

Gray then shouted, "Lyon, you bastard! Why are you doing this?!"

"Lyon" sneered in derision. "You could never understand, murderer!" He then launched an attack that sent Gray flying back.

Natsu turned and was about to pursue Lyon's other subordinates but was stopped when a small section of the ground exploded in dust in front of him, prompting him to shout in shock, "Gah! The ground's exploding."

"No you idiot, I fired at you," Alvin insulted.

Natsu turned to Alvin confused and then growled. "So, you want a beating, huh? Well I'm just the guy for-hey!"

Alvin rushed forward and slashed at Natsu with his sword. "Quit talking and start punching if you wanna live you moron!"

"Wha-why you! That's it!" Natsu's fists and feet were encased in flame as he launched a series of strikes at Alvin. However, his attacks were ineffective, as Alvin dodged a series of punches and then a kick, before Natsu came from the side with another kick and Alvin blocked it with the broad side of his blade, stowed his pistol, grabbed Natsu's leg and tossed him off the side of the hill. "Geez, why am I always fighting kids?"

"Why not try me?!" Naruto challenged as he too jumped from cover, unrolled a scroll, and unsealed the Executioner's Blade to fight Alvin with.

Alvin raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Huh, not bad kid. But let's see what you got!" Alvin rushed forward and clashed his blade with Naruto's own but widened his eyes and grunted as the size of Naruto's blade combined with his strength knocked Alvin off balance. "Crap," Alvin grunted as he rolled back and then to the side to dodge Naruto's attack. "Heh, not too shabby. That thing's got more reach than I expected."

Naruto smirked as he pulled the blade to his side. "That's the idea, now, let's get serious!"

Alvin smirked and retorted, "I agree." He aimed his pistol and fired two shots at Naruto, who merely raised his sword and blocked the shots. "Oh boy."

Naruto then leapt high in the air and swung down at Alvin, who dodged to the side to avoid the strike as the blade hit the ground with a thud and sliced into the earth.

Alvin smirked and then winced as he saw a small gash in his shoulder. '_What the-? I'm certain I dodged his blade. Wait a minute…_' Alvin paused and then noticed that Natsu, Gray, and Naruto all had the same markings on them. "Damn, these guys can spirit artes. He must be enhancing the length of his blade with wind artes. This isn't going to end well."

Naruto pulled his blade to the side and then swept it across his body. "Wind Style: Wind Blade!"

"Shit!" Alvin cursed as he dodged the crescent blade of pure wind chakra that flew over his head. Sitting up and blinking, Alvin ran a hand through his hair and smirked. "Still got all my beautiful locks."

"Not for long!"

"Whoa!" Alvin grunted as he dodged another strike, this time moving slightly farther away to account for Naruto's wind-enhanced blade. He then raised his pistol and fired two more shots which Naruto blocked. Alvin smirked and aimed at Naruto's foot and fired.

"Gah!" Naruto shouted in pain as he stumbled before red energy sparked around the wound and healed it momentarily.

Alvin's eyes widened and he looked at Naruto. "Uh-oh."

Naruto sighed and charged forward, holding the Executioner's Blade out to the side with only one hand.

Alvin sneered and jumped back as the blade began moving forward, however, Naruto's attack was a feint, and he lunged his free hand forward, with a Rasengan in it.

"Rasengan!" Naruto shouted as he slammed the spinning ball of chakra into Alvin's stomach.

Alvin grit his teeth as the pain hit, but then looked behind him as he was pushed back and his eyes widened, behind him was a drop off to the ground below. He then looked back at Naruto as he was thrown back from the explosion of the attack. '_That…crafty bastard…lured me here…_'

Naruto sighed to himself as Alvin plummeted off the side. He then turned around to see Gray and Lyon still engaged in battle.

* * *

"Ice-Make: Lance!" Gray shouted as he launched the attack again.

Lyon raised his hand again and blocked the attack. "Are you honestly going to try the same trick twice?"

Gray growled and then turned to Happy. "Happy! Take Lucy and get out of here!"

Happy nodded in understanding. "Aye, sir!" Happy then grabbed on to Lucy's back as Lyra dispelled and flew off towards the village, though they first went to find Natsu. "We gotta go find Natsu!"

Lucy shook her head. "No, Happy, we have to go help the villagers first. It's going to take more than what that gun-wielding jerk did to Natsu to really hurt him."

Happy frowned but then nodded in agreement and redirected towards the village.

* * *

Naruto ran up to Gray and asked, "Can you handle this masked freak?"

Gray nodded and looked back at Lyon. "Yeah. You go help the villagers. Plus you need to get out of the range of Lyon's magic."

Naruto nodded and took off to the trees.

Gray watched Naruto leave and then looked back at Lyon once more, narrowing his eyes angrily. "You bastard. Do you even realize what you're doing? You're tarnishing Ur's legacy!"

Lyon sneered and then removed his helmet, revealing blue-silver, spiked hair that jutted upwards on most of head save for bangs on the right side of his forehead, narrow, slanted eyes with black irises. "You have no right to talk about Ur's legacy. You are the one who killed her."

Gray winced in pain as Lyon's words bit at him.

* * *

At the edge of the island, a pirate ship began approaching from the waters. However, almost all of the sailors onboard were beaten and bruised, including the captain.

The culprit of said beatings was none other than Erza, who stood at the front of the ship as it docked to the island. How she came in to possession of said ship was rather strange.

* * *

_As the pirate ship, earlier in the day and the sailors still intact, was docked at the pier, Erza approached the ship determined._

_The captain noticed her and asked, "Well hello there milady. What can I do for you?"_

_Erza nodded and answered, "I want you to take me to Galuna Island."_

_The captain and all of the sailors paled._

_"That won't be happening, dear, sorry," the captain apologized._

_Erza narrowed her eyes. "I'm sorry, I'm not asking." She then made her way onto the boat and proceeded to brutalize her way through the sailors and too the captain, whom she stood over. "Now, I want you to take me to Galuna Island. There is someone there who I need to punish."_

_The sailors, presumably having received brain damage, shouted with adoration, "We'll follow you anywhere!"_

* * *

As the ship docked, Erza disembarked and the sailors agreed to wait for her as she began storming her way to her destination.

* * *

Gray and Lyon stared each other down before their battle truly began.

"Ice-Make: Freeze Lancer!" Gray shouted as larger spears shot out at Lyon.

Lyon smirked and raised a single hand and shouted, "Ice-Make: Eagle!" Multiple eagles made from blue-green ice shot from the magic circle on Lyon's hand, some crashing into Gray's spears and stopping them while others charged at Gray himself.

"Crap!" Gray snarled as he then shouted, "Ice-Make: Block!" A massive block of ice appeared to block the eagles, however the circumvented the block and charged at Gray again. "What the-?!" He dodged to the side and growled as he launched another attack. "Ice-Make: Hammer!" A large hammer of ice appeared above Lyon and descended upon him.

Lyon sneered Gray's attack off and launched his own to block it. "Ice-Make: Ape!" A large gorilla made of ice appeared behind Lyon and blocked the Ice-Make: Hammer, then shattered afterwards. "I'm done playing games, Gray!" Thrusting a hand forward, he called out one more attack. "Ice-Make: Snow Dragon!" From his magic circle a massive, eastern dragon made of ice launched out at Gray, who had no time to dodge as the dragon enveloped him before slamming him against the ground, defeated.

Lyon walked over to the fallen Gray and sneered once more. "Look at you. Just like in that training session with Ur, where you laid in the same, pitiful, defeated condition."

"Hey! Don't feel insecure just because you lost!"

Gray sat up and then looked down to see Natsu nearby. "Natsu you moron! What are you doing here?!"

"I don't know where the village is and I didn't find anyone at the top but you!" Natsu ran over past Lyon and threw Gray over his shoulder and ran down the other side to look Lucy and Naruto.

As the two ran, Gray remembered when he had tried to fight Deliora.

* * *

_"You idiot!" Ur scolded. "You can't fight that thing, it's too strong for you!"_

_Gray angrily snapped back, "I have to try! Deliora destroyed my home, I've gotta get payback!"_

* * *

Gray then realized that same attitude is the one he had given to Natsu when the S-Class Quest had just been started. He suddenly understood where Ur's words had come from. As he realized and remembered this, he began to cry and apologized to Natsu. "I'm sorry Natsu…I had no right to say those things…"

Natsu snarled back, "Ahh, shaddup. We're from Fairy Tail, remember? We don't know the meaning of give up. All we know is how to keep going forward."

"Sounds about right to me," Naruto interjected as he rejoined the two.

"Naruto…" Gray remarked in surprise.

"Geez, Pinky, do you know how hard it was to find you?"

"Pinky?!" Natsu shouted back.

Naruto then looked at Gray. "You look like you're in bad shape."

Gray nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I got beat by Lyon."

"Like Natsu said," Naruto interrupted, "Don't worry about it. As long as you keep going without giving up, that counts for something."

* * *

At that same moment, Lucy and Happy arrived at the village and rushed to Moka.

"Chief! Chief!"

Eventually the old man heard their cries and he, along with the rest ran over to the two. "What is it young lady?" he asked.

Lucy answered hurriedly, "There's a team of wizards at the old temple in the forest who are casting a spell that we think's making you demons. We might be able to take them on, we have more numbers, even though we have less wizards."

The villagers looked between themselves unsurely, feeling uncertain of the validity of Lucy's plan.

Lucy began thinking up a new plan when the old man interrupted. "I don't care about those enemies, the only way to fix this is to destroy the moon, you must! You have to destroy it! Now!"

As the old man continued ranting and raving several other villagers dragged him away to calm down.

Lucy nodded to herself and began enacting her plan, summoning Virgo.

The villagers gasped as Virgo burst from a magic circle and Lucy ordered, "Alright Virgo, make us a pitfall!"

"Yes, Princess," Virgo answered plainly as she started digging.

* * *

Happy looked at the results of her plan and scolded, "Lucy, you're an idiot if you think anyone will fall for that."

"Hey! Watch it cat! Just you wait and see, it'll work!" Lucy argued, despite the disapproval written on Happy's face along with villagers'.

That someone turned out to be Naruto, Natsu, and Gray.

As they approach Natsu notices the trap and remarks, "That's the dumbest thing I've ever seen."

Of course, that didn't stop him from falling into it, leaving all those present flabbergasted that such a trap worked.

However, Lucy's dreams of trapping the enemies with that method are dashed when they all see Angelica flying overhead with a large bucket in her hands.

* * *

Atop the giant rat's back, Yuka snickered. "Hmph, let's see how these fools like our Double Poison Jelly."

* * *

One drop managed to splash out as the flew overhead, making to land right on top of Lucy.

"Lucy! Look out!" Naruto warned as he flared up his Rinnegan and used a small amount of chakra to push Lucy out of the way as the "jelly" hit the ground and began melting through the soil.

The villagers began to run in panic as they realized the giant bucket was full of the acidic jelly.

* * *

Atop Angelica, Sherry ordered, "Angelica, dear, drop the jelly."

The rat gave a low-pitched squeak as it dropped the bucket down on the group below.

* * *

Naruto narrowed his eyes as he thought of a plan before ordering, "Everyone! Get in the center of the village! Now!"

As everyone collected in the center, Naruto, his Rinnegan still active, raised his hands and shouted, "Almighty Push!" An invisible dome of chakra surrounded the small section of the village as the acid landed.

A few moments later, the team atop Angelica snarled as they saw the center of the village, with all the villagers, was unharmed.

Sherry ordered the giant rat over the crater and Yuka and Toby jumped down to fight.

At the same time, the villagers started evacuating the area to get away from the ensuing battle.

Unfortunately, Sherry had no interest in letting them go and ordered Angelica to pursue them.

"No! The villagers!" Lucy shouted worried. Acting without thought she ran and jumped, grabbing onto one of Angelica's feet. "This'll bring you down to earth." Lucy then began tickling Angelica's paw.

The action distracting the giant rat, it forgot to use its tail to fly and Sherry, Lucy, and Angelica plummeted to the ground nearby.

"Lucy!" Happy shouted.

Naruto turned to Happy and ordered, "Happy, go check on her!"

Happy nodded and flew off in the direction the three had fallen.

Natsu and Naruto turned as Toby and Yuka approached them.

Gray attempted to get up but Natsu knocked him out. "You're not ready to fight yet. So just stay down."

Naruto and Natsu tensed when Naruto looked around. He then asked, "Hey, Natsu. Think you can take these clowns?"

Natsu smashed his fists together with a smirk. "You bet!"

Naruto nodded in response. "Okay, I'll go and try to put an end to this farce of theirs. You teach these guys a lesson."

Natsu grinned happily. "Don't worry. These guys won't know what hit'em."

Naruto nodded and then vanished in a burst of smoke.

Yuka smirked confidently. "What's wrong? Blondie get scared?"

Natsu jumped down to where they were and chuckled. "Nah, he just didn't need to waste his time with you losers. I can handle ya just fine."

Yuka twitched an eyebrow in response. "You're going to pay for that Pinky."

Natsu smirked and charged at Yuka. "You wanna try callin' me Pinky now!?" Encasing his fists in flame, Natsu threw a punch at Yuka, shouting, "Fire Dragon Iron Fist!"

However, instead of connecting and slamming into his stationary opponent, a wall of magical energy appeared and stopped Natsu's attack, sending him sliding back in confusion. "Wh-what the heck was that?!"

Yuka merely chuckled proudly.

* * *

Inside the ruins, Lyon was walking with a short, hunched over man wearing an ornate mask with green fur covering his head except his mouth, a red shirt, dark blue pants, a green cape, and brown shoes.

As the two walked, the short man asked, "Lyon. How come you didn't finish off Gray when you had the chance?"

Lyon answered plainly, "I don't have a taste for bloodshed, despite having ordered the village to be destroyed. Of course, should Gray come at me again I will show him no mercy. Of that you can be sure, Zalty."

* * *

Lucy looked around her surroundings in an attempt to get her bearings. "This is crazy. Where am I exactly?" She stopped when she heard crying and looked around the corner and saw Sherry sitting on the ground sobbing. Lucy listened to hear what Sherry was saying.

As she continued sobbing, Sherry moaned, "No, no! Now Lyon won't love me anymore. And Angelica. My poor Angelica was hurt by those brutes!"

Lucy, unphased by Sherry's cries, jumped out from her hiding spot and garnered Sherry's attention immediately.

Sherry noticed her and frowned angrily. "You! You're the one who hurt Angelica!"

Lucy readied her keys and retaliated, "Yeah, sorry I hurt you overgrown rat."

Sherry twitched an eyebrow and raised her hands forward. "You're going to regret that! Doll Attack: Wood Doll!" At that moment one of the trees deformed and became a vaguely humanoid monster with Sherry atop. "Now you'll pay!"

Lucy smirked confidently. "Sorry, but that won't work! Open Gate of the Golden Bull: Taurus!"

A Celestial Spirit magic circle appeared and from within it appeared, in a burst of smoke, an extremely tall, muscular, humanoid, with the head and tail of a cow along with white and black spotted fur all over his body who wore a large golden ring on his nose, a pair of swim briefs, knee-length boots, a red belt around his neck with a bell attached, bandages around his forearms, black, fingerless gloves, and a massive axe slung over his back.

Lucy smirked at the large tree and ordered, "Taurus! Take care of that thing!"

Taurus grabbed the axe off his back and lunge at the creature. "Alright! Time for you to mooove you overgrown shrub!" he shouted as he cleanly cleaved the giant tree in half.

Sherry landed safely on the ground away from Taurus and Lucy with a confident smirk. Sherry then began to laugh proudly.

Lucy looked at her puzzled and shot back, "So have you finally just lost it or something?"

Sherry paused and looked at Lucy. "No, but you should realize that you Celestial Spirit Mages are at a great disadvantage against me." Raising her hand with a smirk, Sherry announced, "Doll Attack: Puppeteer!"

At that moment, Taurus froze in place.

Lucy looked around but didn't see any new machination appear but then jumped out of the way frantic when Taurus suddenly swung his axe at her. Gaining her bearings, Lucy shouted, "Taurus! What's gotten into you!?"

With great strain, Taurus replied, "I don't…know Ms. Lucy…my body's just…moooving on its own…" Taurus swung again but Lucy managed to dodge once more.

"I use Doll Magic," Sherry explained, "it allows me to control any nonhuman object. Living or not. That includes Celestial Spirits!"

Lucy grit her teeth as Taurus' will was being overwritten by Sherry's actions.

Taurus again swung at Lucy.

"Taurus! You have to fight it!" Lucy begged.

"I'm sorry Ms. Luuucy, but I can't, she's simply too strong!" Taurus responded ashamed.

Sherry laughed darkly in amusement. "Here's an idea, let's play a new game."

Taurus then pinned Lucy to the ground and reared back his fist.

"No! Taurus, stop!" Lucy pleaded.

"We'll play Russian Roulette until he finally hits you!" Sherry remarked gleefully as Taurus launched his first punch.

Lucy managed to duck her head to the side enough to dodge the blow and did so with the other punches, pleading, "Taurus, remember the day we made our contract! You said you'd always protect me!"

Taurus froze as he attempted to fight Sherry's control, though his body still showed signs of her influence.

* * *

Naruto was running in the treetops overhead when he heard a loud crash. "Whoa, what was that?!"

Ryuujin answered, **'_Below us!_'**

Naruto turned and his eyes widened as he saw Taurus attacking Lucy. "This isn't good…"

* * *

As Taurus attempted to resist Sherry's spell, she increased the power just enough that he began to punch at Lucy.

However, just before he hit her, a large pressure wave slammed into Taurus' side and sent him flying against a tree.

Lucy and Sherry looked to the side to see Naruto standing nearby with his hands stretched in front of him.

"Lucy!" he called, "Close the gate, now!"

Lucy turned to Taurus and steeled herself, willing Taurus' gate to close and after only a few moments, the humanoid bull vanished in a wave of light. Lucy sighed and then turned to Naruto with a grateful smile. "Thanks, Naruto."

Naruto grinned happily. "No problem, you looked kinda mentally lost. So I thought you would be able to send that guy back if I knocked you back to your sense."

Lucy nodded in agreement before grabbing her whip. "Thank you, now let's take care of this pink-haired freak!"

Naruto nodded in agreement and pulled out the seal for the Executioner's Blade. '_I was planning on heading to the temple first. Heh, but stopping to help Lucy shouldn't be that big a deal._'

Sherry frowned and raised her hands again. "Doll Attack: Rock Doll!" This time a massive, humanoid golem of stone appeared from the ground, with Sherry riding atop its head.

Naruto blinked and muttered, "Somehow I thought this would be easier."

Lucy nodded in agreement as the massive golem slammed a foot down where the two stood, both of them dodging at the last moment.

Naruto slid to a stop and attempted to use a jutsu against it. '_If it's earth…then lightning should…_' Naruto flexed his left hand as lightning began to build up in it. '_Well, haven't used this in combat yet but here goes!_' "Lightning Style: Chidori Senbon!" Naruto swept his hand in front of him and dozens of needles made of lightning energy flew at the stone golem, harmlessly bouncing off and hitting the ground before dissipating. Naruto twitched an eyebrow in annoyance. "Well that could've gone a little more gracefully…I guess."

The golem turned and aimed its fist at Naruto, which then shot off at him.

Naruto jumped to the side as he suddenly her shouting. He looked up and saw that Lucy had climbed up the golem and was attempting to take out Sherry. Naruto could only watch in confusion as Lucy slammed her foot into Sherry, sending her off the side of the golem and into the forest, the golem collapsing underneath her feet.

"Whoa!" Lucy shouted as she fell. She flinched as she felt herself stop, but then realized she wasn't dead and looked around.

Naruto chuckled as he held Lucy. "That was pretty awesome, y'know."

Lucy's face tinted red at the compliment. "You think so? W-well, of course it was! I _am_ awesome after all!"

Naruto nodded and put her down and then requested, "Get back to the village and make sure Natsu's doing alright, I need to get to that temple and put a stop to this crap."

Lucy nodded in understanding and turned to head for the village.

Naruto sighed and then looked back at the temple and disappeared in a burst of smoke.

* * *

Naruto appeared in another burst of smoke near the temple. Looking around he whispered, "Well, looks like no one's here."

"Oh I'd think again if I were you."

Naruto reacted just swiftly enough to dodge a small, blue-green orb smashing into the ground next to him. Sliding to a stop, Naruto looked up and saw Zalty sitting in a tree above him.

Zalty chuckled in amusement. "Well, well. Looks like you finally decided to circle back around. What about the rest of your friends, hm?"

Naruto narrowed his eyes and activated his Rinnegan. "They're all busy dealing with your buddies." Naruto raised an eyebrow as he noticed the chakra around Zalty seemed unstable. '_This guy's either got some weird chakra field around him or he's about to explode. I'm not really sure which is worse…_'

**'_How is him blowing up any help?_'** Ryuujin asked confused.

'_Well at least if he blows himself to smithereens that's one less annoyance to deal with._'

**'_Hmm…you're cold._'**

'_Sure, whatever._' Naruto hissed and jumped to the side as another orb slammed into the ground. It then flew from its impact site up at Naruto. Naruto snarled and slammed his fist into the orb, shattering it. His eyes widened when he realized what it was made of. '_I-ice…!_'

What happened next surprised him even more as the shards of the shattered orb neatly reformed.

"What the hell!?" Naruto grunted as the orb of ice hit him in the back and slammed him against a tree.

The orb returned to Zalty and he chuckled. "Do you like it? My magic is rather unique, is it not?"

Naruto sneered and threw several exploding kunai at the masked man.

Zalty merely chuckled and pointed his fingers at the kunai.

Naruto's eyes widened as they immediately reversed direction and flew at him instead. "That's not good!" Naruto dove to the side as the kunai impacted the ground before detonating. "How the hell'd you do that!?"

Zalty chuckled and responded, "Really wanna know? Time."

Naruto blinked in confusion. "…Time…?"

"Yes, my magic allows me to affect the time of an object. I can speed it up, slow it down, or even reverse it. Naturally it won't work on humans but such is the nature of magic."

Naruto grit his teeth in frustration. '_A magic that controls time…what the hell…is that even possible…?_'

Ryuujin thought for a moment and then remarked, **'_I heard once about something called Magic Blue that could manipulate time. But I don't remember how long ago that was._'**

Naruto sighed and then narrowed his eyes at Zalty. '_Well…that doesn't too much matter right now._'

Zalty cackled madly as he added, "Oh, did I mention I can make as many of these as I like?!" Many more orbs of ice appeared around Zalty.

Naruto sweat as he kept up his smirk. "This is…not good…"

* * *

Alvin groaned as he finally regained consciousness. Looking around he sighed and stood up, brushing himself off. "Damn, that blonde kid really hit me hard. Sooo…where am I exactly…?"

* * *

Alvin stepped out of the shrubbery and found himself face to face with someone unexpected, Erza. Blinking unsurely, Alvin asked, "You're, uh…friendly, right?"

Erza narrowed her eyes in response. "That depends. Did you fight against Naruto Uzumaki?"

Alvin blinked and answered plainly, "Uhm. Yes?"

THWACK!

Erza walked away as Alvin was stuck half in a bush twitching.

* * *

Lucy walked through the forest herself, attempting to make it back to the village, when she walked into something hard and fell on the ground. Rubbing her pained head she moaned, "Ooowww…" She then looked at what she hit and paled. "Uh-oh…"

* * *

Naruto panted as he barely dodged another strike from Zalty. '_Damn, this guy's tough. Any attacks I throw he dispels or destroys and all of his attacks I can barely dodge._'

**'_Then why don't you stop thinking for a bit and just use your head?_'** Ryuujin mocked.

Naruto snarled back, '_Why don't you-…that's a pretty good idea actually…_'

Zalty snickered at Naruto in amusement. "If you run away now, I won't chase you."

Naruto smirked as he flared his Rinnegan with a smirk. "Sorry, running's not something I do."

Zalty snickered again. "One of those, huh? Very well. I can work with that." Zalty sent another of his orbs at Naruto, who merely ran straight forward.

Naruto smirked as the sphere passed right through him.

Zalty's eyes widened behind his mask. "What? A Thought Projection?! Then where's the-?!" His words were cut short as Naruto jumped in the air and slammed his head into Zalty's mask. Zalty groaned as he fell to the ground seemingly unconscious.

Naruto pumped a fist happily. "Yeah!" He then felt a dense pressure and turned around slowly, to see a very angry Erza standing behind with Lucy and Happy captive. Naruto gulped frightened. "Uh…h-hi…" Naruto glanced back to Zalty and gaped. "Ah! He's gone!"

"Whoever it was doesn't matter," Erza said coldly as she grabbed Naruto's cape and dragged him along roughly. "You need to be punished."

As Naruto was dragged, Ryuujin added, **'_Normally I'd say I like where this is going, but she seems too pissed for that._'**

* * *

The group arrived back in the village's ruin to find Natsu panting over the downed figures of Yuka and Toby, Natsu having apparently won.

"Natsu, run!" Happy attempted to warn but was silenced by a knock to the head from Erza.

Natsu looked up puzzled at where Happy's voice had come from and paled. He then attempted to run away only for a giant axe to fall from the sky and land in front of him, blocking his path.

* * *

Naruto grunted as he slowly awoke the following morning and looked around. He was inside of a large tent filled with many wooden crates.

After waking up he walked outside his tent and found one of the villagers, a teenage girl with short brown hair and a demonic right leg, who told him, "This is a hideaway area the chief kept in the case of emergencies."

Nodding understanding, Naruto then asked, "So where are the others?"

The girl pointed to a larger tent near the back of the area.

* * *

Naruto encountered Gray and then both entered the tent and remembered what had happened last night when he saw Lucy and Happy sitting on the ground, tied up, next to a very angry Erza.

Gray growled and was about to ask a question when Erza interrupted, "Gray, I'm very ashamed that you would stoop to partaking in such a mission as this. You were even sent specifically to stop Natsu and the others from getting involved."

Gray curled back and Naruto then was scolded as well.

"And as for you, Naruto, what you did was incredibly stupid. If you're lucky, Master Makarov will put you on probation for this."

Naruto clenched a fist and then shot back, "Well we can't leave just yet."

"And why would that be?" Erza responded harshly.

"Because, the people here are going to unleash some demon that will destroy the island and kill the villagers! If we don't do something they'll all die!"

Erza responded coldly, "What of it?"

Naruto froze.

"This is a mission you were not supposed to, nor were you qualified to, go on. You broke the rules and accompanied them on their journey anyway."

Naruto clenched both fists and asked roughly. "So then you'll just condemn these people to death?"

"No, when another mage feels up to the task they will be sent to-"

Erza was interrupted by an enraged Naruto, "That's bullshit! Yeah, we screwed up, I realize that! But that's no reason to let these people die dammit! If this is what I can expect from this guild then I want no part of it you coldhearted bitch!" Naruto immediately stormed out of the tent leaving all left inside in awe.

Erza was almost agape at Naruto's response. She then clenched a fist angrily. She then looked at Gray and asked, "What about you?"

Gray turned to her and then huffed. "Honestly, I agree with Naruto here. It seems I've misjudged you."

Erza narrowed her eyes as a sword appeared in her hands. "While it's understandable in his case as he is new, I am certain you know the punishment for breaking the guild's rules, Gray."

Gray turned to leave but then added, "This is the path I've chosen, and you won't stop me. Or Naruto." He then walked out of the tent, leaving Erza angry.

* * *

Naruto walked towards the edge of the small encampment when Gray approached him. Naruto turned to Gray with a scowl. "Don't try and stop me."

Gray stopped next to him and shook his head. "I'm not going to. I can't let Lyon do this. Everyone on this island will die if that thing gets loose."

Naruto nodded in agreement and the two took off running to the temple.

* * *

Erza sat in the tent at the encampment and then sighed heavily before standing point her sword at Lucy and Happy.

Lucy began sweating heavily and begged, "Don't kill me, please!"

Erza slashed twice and Lucy and Happy looked around confused as their ropes fell.

Lucy looked up at Erza and asked, "Are we…free…?"

Erza sighed heavily and explained, "Those two may be fools, as well as Natsu for heading out on his own this morning, but they are still wizards of Fairy Tail. So we can't have them dying."

Lucy smiled happily as Happy jumped up and exclaimed, "Here we come Natsu!"

* * *

At that same time, Natsu was running towards the temple slightly annoyed. "Aww man, I had a totally awesome plan but I slept too late. Heh, heh, whatever, it should work!"

* * *

Naruto and Gray, meanwhile, were making their own way to the temple.

Gray looked at Naruto and said, "I can hold my own."

Naruto looked back at him confused.

"I know you can run a whole hell of a lot faster than this, you don't need to slow it down on my behalf."

Naruto raised an eyebrow and then smirked, nodding before vanishing in a burst of smoke.

* * *

Inside the temple, Toby and Lyon were in Lyon's makeshift throne room discussing Toby's defeat by Natsu.

"I'm very disappointed you were so easily taken down, Toby," Lyon scolded.

"I'm sorry, that pink-haired guy's just a lot stronger than I thought," Toby apologized.

Zalty then entered the room interrupting their conversation. "Excuse me, Lyon, but something urgent has come up."

Lyon motioned Toby to leave, which he did, before asking, "And what would that be?"

"The Moon-Drip must end tonight, Erza Scarlet of Fairy Tail has arrived."

Lyon smirked and responded, "I wouldn't worry. No matter who or what they throw at us, I will not be defeated."

Zalty grinned and chuckled in amusement. "Good to hear. Then I suppose it's time I fight seriously as well. Toying with that blonde one was entertaining though."

Lyon and Zalty then stumbled and fell over.

"What the hell was that!?" Lyon demanded.

* * *

Outside the temple, Naruto stood on a tree limb and watched in confusion as the massive temple suddenly tilted to one side. He blinked in confusion at what had caused that but then noticed spurts of fire from some of the cracks and chuckled to himself. "Well, well. Great minds think alike I suppose."

* * *

Inside the temple, Natsu ran and dashed around, destroying the different support pillars at the temple's bottom level. Grinning to himself he assessed his work. "Oh yeah. Now with this temple at an angle that weird light won't hit Deliora." He then looked up and smirked. "Alright, all that's left is mask face and ice-brain." Encasing himself in fire he leapt through the floors, up to the throne room.

* * *

Naruto however, decided to take a slightly more dramatic entrance.

* * *

Inside the throne room, Lyon and Zalty looked around before a spot in front of them began to distort as a vortex appeared in the air.

Lyon raised a hand in preparation while Zalty readied his ice-sphere.

Naruto then began to appear in the vortex from the center before the vortex receded back into the space, his right eye. Naruto looked around calmly and commented, "Nice setup you've got here."

Lyon sneered in annoyance and remarked, "You know, you're rather confident considering you're about to die."

Naruto chuckled and then ran a finger across the bridge of his nose. "Perhaps. Or perhaps I'm about to kick _your_ ass."

Lyon huffed and then ordered, "Zalty, deal with him. I'll handle our other guest."

"Of course," Zalty responded as he stepped forward to challenge Naruto.

Naruto smirked and assumed a combat stance as Zalty levitated his ice-sphere. Naruto then commented, "You know, something's felt off about you since I first saw you, and I think I've realized what it is now."

"Oh? And what might that be?" Zalty asked casually.

"You smell like a girl."

"Hurk…" Zalty froze as he was uncertain how to respond.

Naruto smirked and took advantage of the situation and Teleported in a burst of smoke, reappearing right next to Zalty and spinning midair, accelerating his turn with chakra and shouting, "Leaf Whirlwind!" The spinning, chakra enhanced kick slammed into the side of Zalty's head and sent him crashing through the wall.

Lyon huffed and then asked derisively, "Let me guess, now that you've dealt with Zalty you'll focus on me?"

Naruto chuckled and shook his head. "Nah, that bastard will be back up in a couple seconds, so I've still gotta tangle with him. Besides, Natsu will handle you just fine."

Lyon looked at Naruto annoyed. "You're rather confident in your allies, aren't you?"

Naruto smirked and asked, "If I'm not, what can I be confident in?" Without another word Naruto ran through the dust cloud to the other side where Zalty was.

Lyon frowned heavily before the ground next to him exploded in flames. He looked to the side with a bored expression as Natsu grinned at him. "Let me guess, here to defeat me?"

"You got it!" Natsu shouted before charging.

* * *

Naruto walked through the tipped halls of the temple in bewilderment. "Shit…where'd he go?"

"Looking for me?"

Naruto turned and jumped just as Zalty's ice-sphere slammed into the ground behind him. He looked up and saw Zalty sitting on a ledge above him. He chuckled and taunted, "I guess rats do usually hang out in crevices, don't they?"

Zalty chuckled in response. "You really have got a mouth on you, don't you?"

Naruto grinned and pulled a kunai out of his pouch. "Depends on who you ask."

"Heh, heh, I suppose it would. Now, how about enough chitchat and we get down to business, hmm?"

Naruto smirked and lowered himself into a battle stance.

As several more ice spheres appeared around Zalty, he taunted, "You don't really think that will work, do you?"

Naruto snickered and then vanished in a burst of smoke.

"I see, appearing…behind me!" Zalty shouted as he turned around and punched the air. He blinked curiously and waved his arm somewhat. "Where'd he go?"

BONK!

Naruto appeared behind Zalty, which was in front of him a moment ago, and slammed a fist down on his head.

Zalty jumped away as the welt on his head grew in size. "That's a rather sneaky attack. Let's try this instead." Zalty splayed his hands out and the entire temple began to shift.

Naruto looked around in surprise. "No way!"

* * *

Natsu and Lyon, who were fighting in the now trashed throne room, stumbled around as the temple shifted.

"Hey! What's goin' on!?" Natsu demanded.

Lyon smirked and remarked, "It's about time. In case you're wondering, Zalty used his magic to fix the damage you did to the temple, allowing the moonlight to once again hit Deliora."

Natsu pointed at Lyon and shouted angrily, "Hey! That's not fair!"

* * *

Naruto clenched a fist as he looked at Zalty. "Damn, that time manipulation of yours is pretty wide-range."

"Heh, heh, it is, isn't it?" Zalty retorted.

Naruto hissed and jumped at Zalty, condensing chakra in his hand into a spinning ball. He then lunged it at Zalty, shouting, "Rasengan!"

Zalty smirked and raised a finger, causing Naruto's Rasengan to dissipate.

Naruto grit his teeth and used wind chakra to jump back and put distance between himself and Zalty.

Zalty then smirked again and flicked a finger upward.

Naruto's eyes widened as a section of the floor was carved out and then shot upwards, blasting him through the ceiling and into the throne room above. Naruto came down hard with a thud as Natsu slammed into the opposite wall from one of Lyon's attacks. Naruto hissed and wiped blood from his chin as he thought, '_Son of a bitch. Why is this little imp giving me so much trouble?_'

Ryuujin added, **'_That time manipulation of his is dangerous. Even with the power you have he can disintegrate any of your attacks or weapons. Meaning the only way you'll be able to beat him is to literally beat him down with your own two fists. Any attacks or weapons will be useless against him unless they're a part of your body._'**

Naruto snarled as he stood up and watched as Zalty stood next to Lyon.

Lyon chuckled in amusement. "Well it seems neither you nor your friend are as powerful as you thought. Rather ironic honestly."

Naruto clenched his fists and then demanded, "Why are you doing this?! What purpose is there in freeing Deliora, huh?!"

Lyon frowned and answered plainly, "Freeing Deliora and killing it is the only way to surpass Ur."

Natsu looked at Lyon confused and asked, "Why don't you just fight her then?"

"Because Ur is dead, and Gray killed her."

Naruto narrowed his eyes and rebutted, "That's not what Gray told us."

Lyon chuckled proudly and chided, "Of course not. Murderers never admit to their crimes. It's the same with Gray."

Naruto sighed and then argued, "I don't see how Gray killed her, from the sounds of it, she sacrificed herself to freeze Deliora."

"Which wouldn't have happened if Gray hadn't been so stupid!"

"It's in the past! I'm sure Gray feels far worse about it than you do, regardless of whether he's to blame or not. But I don't see how the actions of one person can be blamed on another. And if you refuse to see that, then we'll just have to beat it into you."

"You could barely handle Zalty, yet you believe you can stop me?"

Naruto smirked and pointed at Lyon. "You will be easy to beat, all you have is Ice Make Magic. If I melt it or shatter it you're done for. The little masked freak over there is another issue entirely though…"

Lyon and Zalty both looked at Naruto annoyed.

Zalty looked up at Lyon and said, "I think he just complimented and insulted us at the same time."

Lyon put a hand to his forehead in exasperation. "I don't know what it is with these people but they give me a headache."

Naruto readied a fighting stance as Natsu did the same.

Naruto then added one more thing. "And besides all of that, even if Gray is guilty of Ur's death, you are endangering the lives of an entire village for your own selfish pride. And if Gray is a murderer, then you're no better!"

Lyon's eyes widened in rage before he swept his hand in front of him and shouted, "You know nothing! Ice Make: Eagle!"

Naruto readied several kunai and threw them, forming a half hand sign and shouting, "Shadow Kunai Jutsu!" The three kunai he threw multiplied into fifteen in bursts of smoke.

However, Zalty raised a hand and Naruto's kunai vanished and Lyon's eagles sped up.

Naruto grit his teeth and shoved his hands forward, shouting, "Almighty Push!" The force from his attack shattered the eagles on the ground. Naruto clenched a fist in frustration. '_Dammit. Normally dealing with Lyon's attacks would be easy. But with Zalty here he can reinforce Lyon's attacks and neutralize mine. This isn't going well…_'

* * *

Gray, Erza, Lucy, and Happy had met up on the way to the temple, and as they ran, Gray explained to them the reasoning behind Lyon's actions.

Erza looked at him incredulously and asked, "Are you serious? He truly believes that by defeating Deliora he will indirectly defeat Ur?"

Gray nodded in agreement. "Yeah, because Ur's dead he won't be able to challenge and defeat her directly. And that's a problem for him because he's always been obsessed with surpassing her, and he's mad that he won't get that chance now. So he thinks that by killing the creature she couldn't kill he'll indirectly beat her."

"That's crazy," Lucy said in disbelief.

Gray nodded again. "Yeah, but there's still something that he doesn't understand yet."

"What?" Happy asked.

"Ur's alive."

Erza stopped and pointed ahead, "Look out!"

At that moment a large number of the priests who had been performing the Moon-Drip ritual jumped in front of them armed to stop them.

Gray narrowed his eyes and Lucy and Happy prepared to fight them.

Erza turned to Gray and ordered, "Go on ahead to the temple, we can handle them. You're the only one who can stop Lyon."

Gray nodded appreciatively and jumped over the attacking priests.

Several tried to stop him but Erza took them out with several of her swords.

* * *

Naruto and Natsu continued their standoff with Lyon and Zalty before Natsu growled and charged in. "Screw this! I'm done standin' around!"

"Wait! Don't!" Naruto warned.

Naturally, Lyon launched an attack, Natsu retaliated, Zalty then neutralized Natsu's attack and enhanced Lyon's.

Naruto clenched his fists before an idea came to him. '_Ryuujin, you said that this spell will only affect things not part of my body, correct?_'

**'_Seems that way…why…?_'** Ryuujin asked curiously.

'_Do you think…Shurado weapons would be neutralized?_'

**'_Hmm…it's worth a shot._'**

Naruto nodded and raised his arm at the two enemies. "Natsu! Get out of the way!"

Natsu looked back at Naruto jumped aside.

As he did that, Naruto pulled back his sleeve and a section of his arm lifted up and moved to the side mechanically as a tall, thin box extended out of his arm and a panel flipped open with four holes underneath, out of which explosive blasts of chakra shot from.

Zalty raised an eyebrow underneath his mask and smirked, raising a hand at the incoming projectiles.

To Naruto's chagrin the projectiles crumbled away in midair. Snarling angrily he whipped his arm to the side and the missile pod disappeared back into his arm. '_Damn…I really thought that would work…I guess hand-to-hand is the only option now. These bastards make a great team. Lyon launches long range attacks that are enhanced by Zalty. And Zalty is kept safe from enemies by Lyon while he disables their attacks. If only I had someone on my side with those time powers._'

**'_No point fantasizing now. You've only got one option now,_'** Ryuujin recommended.

Naruto frowned and nodded in agreement. '_Yeah…use Kamui to slip past Lyon's attacks and try to get the timing right to get Zalty. Why can't anything ever be easy…?_'

However, as Naruto was about to enact his plan, Gray burst through the door and shouted, "Lyon!"

Lyon looked shocked at Gray and then smirked. "So you've finally come."

Gray walked over to Naruto and Natsu and stared Lyon down.

"Gray!" Naruto said in surprise.

Natsu pointed at Gray and shouted, "Hey! Butt out! This is our fight!"

Gray looked back at Natsu coldly, then turned back to Lyon silently. He then ordered, "Lyon. Get out of here. Retreat and leave the island, now."

Lyon sneered and retorted, "And what if I refuse?"

Gray closed his eyes and sighed before spreading his legs to the side, and crossing his arms in front of him, his right over his left, with his left hand pointed up.

Lyon's eyes widened in shock. "Iced Shell!" He then calmed down some and chuckled. "You're bluffing. There's no way you'd do something like that. You're too selfish, Gray!"

Gray narrowed his eyes as a magic circle appeared at his feet and icy wind began swirling around the room.

Lyon looked around in shock while Zalty held onto his hat and said, "Well, guess that's my cue," before jumping down a hole nearby.

"Hey!" Naruto shouted. He was about to run after Zalty but then turned to Gray. "You aren't serious about this…are you…?"

Gray nodded and said, "I am. Unfortunately…it seems like this is the end. Since I can't force Lyon to leave…stopping him here and now is my only option…Naruto, Natsu, get out of here, I don't want you to get caught in the blast!"

Naruto clenched his fists but Natsu rushed past him, then reared back his fist and slammed it into Gray's face, sending him crashing into the wall.

"You idiot! You can't just run away from your problems like this!"

* * *

**Well, that's it for this chapter. If you wish, leave a review of your opinion of the story, though if all you'll be posting is vitriolic drivel you should have better things to do than read a story you obviously don't enjoy, but either way, this is the end of the chapter.  
**

**"Hey! What's the idea of me bein' a beachball?"**

**Well you did ask for it.**

**"Plue plue."**

**See, he agrees with me.**

**"Awe...come on."**

**Alright, it's time to go.**

**"Not yet."**

**Would you prefer Matatabi escorting you out?**

**"No, sir!"**

**Later.**

**"Plue plue."**

**Bye to you too.**


	6. Iced Reception

**Chapter VI**

**Before we begin this chapter, I would like to say one thing, I have a new series of stories I am working on called the Legends of Chaos. It is a new series that is a multi-crossover spanning multiple stories. The current stories in the series are Destined Dynasty, Chaos Pawn of the Gremory, and Dragon of Zero. **

**Destined Dynasty is a relatively simple story, Naruto's heritage is changed to include the Uchiha lineage but that story is relatively unrelated to the actual Legends of Chaos series, though I would like it if you would check it out.**

**Chaos Pawn of the Gremory is where things start to get interesting and where I would like to focus. It is a multi-crossover with High School DxD, Bleach, Sekirei, Fate/Stay Night, Tsukihime, and a few others with an OC (Original Character for those who do not know the meaning of the acronym) main character named Kazuma Soryu who takes over Issei's role in the story as well as Minato and to a degree Shirou's, and to a major degree Ichigo's, however Ichigo is still a main character in the series he just has other roles, with Erza acting as the Soul Reaper that finds him instead of Rukia like canon. The story follows Kazuma as he deals with becoming a Soul Reaper, getting involved with the devils, and other situations including the Holy Grail War. There's more to the story than this but most of that is spoilers.**

**The last of the series that is currently up is Dragon of Zero, which takes place a certain period of time after the end of Chaos Pawn of the Gremory, the ending of which hasn't been written yet but is already planned out and, like the Ryuujin Saga, the stories are being written a bit out of order, and so after the events of Chaos Pawn of the Gremory's ending Kazuma finds himself summoned by the world's most infamous loli-tsundere wizard, who pulls him out of nowhere as her familiar, getting him involved with that plot as well as the plot of Dragonar Academy, both storylines being altered with Kazuma's presence. It is a crossover of Familiar of Zero and Dragonar Academy with Kazuma as the main character in both series.**

**Both stories have heavily altered lores for their respective series and I would like it if you guys would check them out and tell me what you think about them. I will show you a little excerpt from Dragon of Zero at the end of this chapter to give you a general idea of how the story goes.**

**Now on to this story.**

**Well, for those concerned here is the next chapter of Fairy Tail's Dragon God. As usual I would like to thank my coauthors Bakuto Masaki and seeker of true anime fan fic for helping through this mess. I hope you guys enjoyed the last chapter and I hope that you enjoy this one as well. I have decided I will do a small reviewer response to just the people that have more than just pointless bile to spit out on a keyboard.  
**

**Bananarock509: Because Naruto's original world in the Ryuujin Saga is a combination of Fullmetal Alchemist and Naruto.**

**narutoDkurosaki: Yep, you seem one of the few who realizes and accepts Naruto will not be godlike here. Yep, like I said before, FMA and Naruto were one world in the beginning of the RS. Yes, I will be adding Rave Master.**

**Markus-Antonius: :P No, I suppose he did not. I could not think of too much to have him do that would not disrupt important character development.**

**Lightningblade49: Yeah, definitely.**

**Guess that is it for this reviewer response segment.**

***KNOCK***

**What? Oh great, who now?**

**"Well hello."**

**Uhhh...Ultear? How did you find this place?**

**"A little bird told me."**

**Happy.**

**"Hmph, yes, it was. Some fish probably didn't hurt."**

**Damn cat. Well, since you are here I might as well ask. What do you think of Naruto?**

**"Hmm...he is quite interesting. So easy to fluster and full of surprises."**

**Oh you have no idea.**

**"What do you mean by that?"**

**Just wait and see. If you please, I would like you to leave.**

**"No, I am staying to see what you mean. Plus this is payback for having Naruto bruise me last chapter. Unless you want harmed."**

**Nope, I'm good.**

**"Then I will stay."**

****Guess we will just get a move on to the story itself.****

* * *

"You idiot! You can't just run away from your problems like this!"

Gray slid across the floor as Natsu punched him in the face. He then slowly stood up and scowled at Natsu. "What the hell do you think you're doing!? I'm the one who should defeat Lyon!"

Natsu argued, "You're just running away!"

As Naruto and Gray argued, Naruto looked back to Lyon and Zalty. '_This is bad. I still can't think of a way to get close. You have to give me the powers of the Homunculi._'

Ryuujin argued, **'_I can't do that, you should know that. I still see no evidence that you can control it._'**

'_Dammit! This isn't the time for that!_'

**'_I've seen your memories Naruto, thanks to Kurama. Do you remember what happened when you first obtained those powers by absorbing Father?_'**

Naruto grit his teeth and argued, '_But that was then, and this is now. I've had experience with them._'

However, before the arguments could continue the door to the large room burst open.

Naruto, Natsu, Gray, Lyon, and Zalty turned as a dirty, bruised, and bloodied Alvin came limping through the door, limped over to Lyon, and punched him in the face. "No amount of money is worth this crap. That busty redhead almost killed me." Sighing Alvin turned to Naruto's group and sighed. "Look, I'm no longer working for this guy, so mind letting me leave with just my pride and wallet bruised?"

Naruto and the others shared a look before shaking their heads.

Naruto pointed and said, "Door's right over there."

Alvin merely lumbered out the door before a low thumping sound emanated outside several times followed by an annoyed sigh.

"Well…that was weird." Naruto sighed and then noticed that Lyon and Zalty were still distracted. '_Now!_' He instantly cupped his hand and began collecting chakra in a ball before launching himself forward with chakra.

Lyon and Zalty barely had the chance to recover from their stupor as Naruto approached and shouted, "Rasengan!" before slamming it into Zalty's face, sending him flying through the far wall and chasing after him. He stopped and turned to Natsu and Gray. "I'll leave Prissy Pants to you!" He then disappeared through the hole in the wall to go after Zalty.

Gray then turned to Natsu and said, "I'll deal with Lyon myself. I don't need you here Natsu."

Natsu rebutted, "Heh, you really think I'll run off and let you have all the fun?"

Gray argued, "This isn't a game Natsu!" He then raised an eyebrow and said, "Erza, Lucy, and Happy are outside the front of the temple fighting a bunch of priests."

Natsu snarled and then ran off but stopped and then turned and said, "Oy, if you die here I'll beat the crap outta you!"

Gray nodded with a smirk.

* * *

Naruto looked around the temple hallways annoyed. "Great, now I've lost that little creep again." He then pulsed a small amount of chakra around him and narrowed his eyes. '_These walls are able to repel my chakra._' He turned to the side and jumped up as several ice spheres smashed through the wall towards him. As he landed he saw Zalty walk through the hole, his mask cracked. Naruto smirked and commented, "Guess that mask of yours is pretty tough."

Zalty smirked and rebutted, "That's the idea." More ice spheres formed and shot at Naruto.

Naruto clapped his hands together and slammed them on the ground, a wall of stone bursting up from the ground, blocking the ice spheres.

"That won't work…" Zalty teased as the wall Naruto made crumbled.

"Ah crap," Naruto snarled. He then had an idea. "It's pretty dumb but…heh, heh, it just might work…"

Zalty chuckled and asked, "Oh, planning something are we…?"

* * *

Back with Gray and Lyon, Gray asked suspiciously, "Lyon, what would you have done if my Iced Shell actually hit?"

Lyon answered confidently, "I would merely take the hit. I have many allies with the same dream as I."

Gray clenched his fists and explained, "Listen, Lyon. You should leave Deliora. There's something you don't know about it."

"And what might that be, Gray?"

"Ur is still alive."

Lyon stood silently for several moments and then asked, "Is that it?" Gray looked at Lyon puzzled before Lyon stuck out a hand and shouted, "Ice-Make: Panther!" A panther made of ice then burst from Gray's back, causing him pain and to fall over to the ground. "I'm already well aware of the fact Ur is still very much alive with the Iced Shell."

Gray, who was still pinned by the Ice-Make: Panther, widened his eyes and then shouted, "Then why?! Why are you doing this?!"

"I've already explained it, Gray. To prove my power over Ur, to do what she could not." Lyon then pulled a hand back before it was enveloped in a wolf's head made of ice as Lyon shouted, "Ice-Make: Wolf!" Lyon then rushed forward and launched an attack on Gray, punching him over and over with his ice-covered fist.

"Then you'll kill Ur?!"

"She's already as good as dead!" Lyon argued as he punched Gray in the abdomen again.

Gray stumbled back and then clenched his fists and reared back a hand before punching Lyon in the face, continuing the turn and then slamming Lyon into the far wall. Taking a heavy sigh, Gray said angrily, "I'm done trying to save you, Lyon."

Lyon stood up and wiped blood from his chin. "You were foolish for trying in the first place."

Gray turned to Lyon and prepared a spell but stopped when Lyon put up a hand.

"We've both used up so much magic power I'm certain you're as drained as I am."

"Are you suggesting we stop?" Gray asked suspiciously.

Lyon threw off his cape and raised his fists. "Not at all."

Gray caught his meaning and raised his fists as well before charging Lyon, throwing a wide punch at him from the left side.

Lyon smirked and ducked under it then jabbed Gray's left side, right in the ribs.

Gray shouted in pain before Lyon launched a barrage of punches before sending him tumbling away with a powerful hook to the jaw.

* * *

Zalty looked across to Naruto, who still remained motionless as he thought, and narrowed his eyes under his mask. '_I wonder what the boy thinks he's going to do…_'

Naruto then grinned and raised his hands in a hand sign. "Get ready for this! Shadow Clone Jutsu!" The room was then filled with smoke.

Zalty coughed as it cleared and looked at Naruto surprised.

Naruto was surrounded by multiple clones of himself, all ready for combat.

Zalty smirked and responded, "Impressive. Thought Projections. You seem to have some advanced skills."

Naruto and his clones raised their hands in a new hand sign as Naruto rebutted, "I don't know what a Thought Projection is but I do know this: Ninja Art: Harem Jutsu!"

"Whu-?" Zalty grunted before the room was filled with more smoke.

When the smoke cleared, the room was instead filled with multiple blonde, curvy, girls who each had the same hairstyle of long blonde hair tied in twintails, with Naruto's whisker marks all on their cheeks, and, most notably, no clothing.

Zalty looked at the display in front of him confused and concerned, though a small drip of blood fell from his nose before a powerful blow to the head hit him from behind. "Guh!" Zalty grunted as he fell to the floor unconscious.

Naruto grinned victoriously as all of his clones vanished. "Heh, heh, if there's one thing I know about creepy old guys it's that they're all perverts. Though this guy seemed to react a bit different to Pervy Sage and Gramps." Shaking his head he looked around. "Alright, now I've got to take care of that damn Moon Drip, I've gotta find a way to stop Deliora from getting that mana." Running down the hallway Naruto hopped down a hole in the ground, leaving Zalty twitching with a frown on his face before his mask cracked in half.

* * *

Lyon and Gray's battle continued, with Gray losing quite plainly as Lyon continued battering him with punches.

As Gray stumbled back he thought about a time when he and Natsu were young.

* * *

_Young Gray and young Natsu had just finished a spar with one another, Gray turning out the victor with Natsu landing flat on his back in defeat._

_However rather than simply accept the defeat for what it was, Natsu got up to continue._

_"Geez, you seriously want to keep going?" Gray asked in annoyance._

_"You bet!" Natsu shouted as he rushed Gray with more punches, only to get beaten down once more._

* * *

Gray smirked and mumbled, "There's no way I'm going to let that fire-breather beat me."

"What was that?" Lyon asked puzzled before rushing at Gray, only for Gray to duck and slam his fist up into Lyon's chin then punching him square in the jaw with his other fist, slamming him into another wall.

Lyon growled and got up to throw more blows at Gray.

However, as Gray remembered all his fights with Natsu, he managed to get under Lyon's strikes over and over before grabbing him by the back of the shirt, spinning around counterclockwise and using all of the built up force to throw Lyon into a wall with such force that it sent dust and stone flying all around as Lyon slumped to the floor with a grunt.

Gray breathed heavily for a few moments before falling back exhausted.

* * *

Outside the temple, Lucy, Erza, and Happy continued fighting the priests when Lucy began to notice something odd.

After a few more moments of slugging it out with the group, Lucy shouted, "Erza, Happy! These priests, they're not mages! We can take'em down easy!"

Erza turned to her and ordered, "Good, take them all out!"

Lucy nodded and pulled out Cancer's key, threw it in the air, causing it to spin before grabbing it and shouting, "Open, Gate of the Giant Crab: Cancer!"

A magic circle appeared exuding a burst of smoke before Cancer himself appeared from it, "I'm here, Baby." He then turned to Erza and held out a bouquet of flowers. "You're the most beautiful woman in the world, Ba-er, Ma'am."

Lucy shouted, "Forget that! Take out those priests!"

Cancer turned and armed his scissors before taking out the priests with large numbers of slashes.

As the priests fell over the team gasped.

* * *

Back in the temple, Lyon stood up scowling. "You…you'll pay for that…" He aimed his hand forward and shouted, "Ice-Make: Eagle!" Eagles made of ice shot out of a magic circle and launched at Gray.

Gray hissed angrily and jumped to the side to avoid the shots and skid to the side. "Hey! This was supposed to be a no-magic fight!"

Lyon stood up with a smirk. "I never agreed to that…"

Gray narrowed his eyes and prepared to fight back despite his low mana reserves.

"Besides," Lyon began, "Deliora will be free soon."

Gray frowned and then smirked. "Well, don't think you'll be getting that far, you bastard."

"Why?" Lyon asked.

"Because, we've got a trump card on our side."

Lyon folded his arms suspiciously. "Oh really? You mean that hyperactive Fire Dragon Slayer?"

Gray shook his head. "No, Naruto. He hasn't gone full pelt yet, but let's just say there's something about him that makes me believe he can stop this insanity."

* * *

Naruto appeared at the bottom of the temple to find Deliora with the further melting ice. "Damn, it's really going fast."

**'_There should be someone at the top. If you can stop the people enacting the ceremony the Moon Drip will stop._'**

Naruto nodded in understanding and disappeared into Kamui.

* * *

At the top of the temple, Toby sat at the Moon Drip circle.

He shrieked in shock as Naruto appeared from his Kamui dimension. Naruto walked up to Toby who began shaking and then said, "Get away from altar."

Toby shook and said weakly, "N-no…"

* * *

Moments later, Toby came flying from the top of the temple and landed headfirst in the soil.

* * *

Naruto sighed and stretched his neck before he watched the Moon Drip circle disappear. "Well, hopefully that puts an end to this."

* * *

Erza, Lucy, and Happy looked at the group of "priests" as they stood up with their robes torn to pieces and removed their masks.

Lucy blinked and mumbled, "They're just…regular people."

An old woman walked up to the group and explained, "You have defeated us, we won't fight back anymore, but at least hear us out."

"About what?" Lucy asked.

"Why we follow Lyon. We follow him because he's our last hope for resolution."

Erza asked suspiciously, "What do you mean?"

"Our homes, our families, our friends, they were all destroyed by Deliora. The pain made it impossible to move on. But Lyon…he presented us with a way to move past it all. If we helped him to permanently kill Deliora, then we would gain the resolution we need to move on. Knowing that monster is still alive is terrifying. But if Lyon kills it we don't need to worry anymore."

Erza narrowed her eyes and asked, "So you saw it fit to endanger the lives of those living in the village down there just so you can relieve yourself of emotional pain?"

The woman shook her head. "That was never our intention. Lyon never told us what it was doing. And by the time we figured it out it was too late."

Lucy frowned in response. "I had no idea…"

Suddenly, the temple and the island around it began shaking violently.

"Wh-what's going on…?!" Lucy shouted in confusion.

* * *

Inside the temple, Gray looked around in confusion. "What's going on!?"

Lyon chuckled and then explained, "The Iced Shell has broken, and Deliora is now free!"

* * *

Atop the temple, Naruto looked around and exclaimed, "What the hell…?!"

Ryuujin explained, **'_I'm sensing lots of mana, I think it's free!_'**

"Dammit!" Naruto disappeared into Kamui.

* * *

Inside the temple, Gray shouted, "You bastard! Do you realize what's happening?!"

"Yes, I know full well, and it's the resolution of everything we've worked towards, all we've done to accomplish this!" Lyon boasted.

Gray growled and chastised, "Dammit, this is pointless, all you'll do is let out to kill people!"

Lyon frowned and demeaned, "While you've been busy playing with some stupid guild, I've been working to take up Ur's mantle and surpass her."

Gray dropped his shoulders and responded, "I haven't been playing around with this guild, I've been taking Ur's advice to heart."

"What…?"

"Her advice for us was to find and meet up with powerful wizards to the west, and that's exactly what I did by joining Fairy Tail. When I originally got there, I had asked Master Makarov for help with healing Ur and returning her to normal. It was soon after that when he told me that her condition was eternal and there's nothing I could do about it. You disgust me, all you can see is your own selfish ambitions, and you taint Ur's memory with your actions, Lyon!"

Lyon growled and then launched another Ice-Make: Eagle at Gray.

Gray fired back as he launched, "Ice-Make: Lance!" Spears of ice hit Lyon's Eagles and destroyed them.

Lyon launched another attack. "Ice-Make: Snow Tiger!" A giant tiger made of ice charged towards Gray.

Gray prepared a spell of his own and launched, "Ice-Make: Prison!" A giant square prison of ice fell on top of Lyon's Snow Tiger, entrapping it.

Lyon widened his eyes as his Snow Tiger failed to escape. "What's going on, why can't it break free?!"

Gray explained, "It's because your ice creations are out of balance."

"What?" Lyon asked in confusion.

"Ur taught us to use Ice-Make with two hands, she did that because it requires both hands to balance out your ice to make it as strong as possible. But you only use one hand, meaning your creatures are out of balance. You make your creations incorrectly and thus they're weaker. Let me show you," Lyon's eyes widened as Gray prepared a new spell, "real Ice-Make magic! Ice-Make: Cannon!" A rocket launcher of ice formed in Gray's hands before he aimed it at Lyon and fired a massive stream of ice at Lyon, finally taking him down. Gray sighed heavily as he defeated Lyon, right before a massive, cacophonic sound rumbled throughout the temple and the surrounding island. His eyes widened as he looked around. "That sound…it's Deliora…it's finally broken free…"

* * *

Inside the cavern, the ice around Deliora shattered as it broke free, breaking the ice and getting free before roaring with a massively loud sound.

Naruto looked up in shock at the beast. "Oh crap…this is really bad…"

* * *

Gray clenched his fists and muttered, "I suppose…there's only one way to deal with this…I'll need to use Iced Shell."

* * *

Erza looked up at the temple and shouted, "It's free! The demon's out!"

Lucy pointed to the temple, "But the Moon Drip isn't going on anymore!"

Erza clenched a fist. "Then that means it's finished. We have to get to temple and see how we can stop it!"

Lucy and Happy nodded in agreement but stopped when Natsu tumbled out of the bushes.

"Natsu!" Happy shouted as he flew over to Natsu. "What happened to you?!"

Natsu groaned and sat up. "I came down from the temple to find you guys and got lost. Glad I…found…you…"

Erza stood over Natsu with a scowl and folded arms.

Natsu gulped. "Uh-oh…"

Erza sighed and then said, "I am very angry with you Natsu. However, we have more important matters to deal with right now."

Natsu nodded frantically in agreement.

* * *

Gray arrived down in the lower cavern where Deliora was freeing itself. He looked at Deliora and prepared to fight it.

"Don't even think about it!" Naruto shouted.

Gray stopped and saw Naruto behind him. "Don't stop me, I need to do this."

Naruto shook his head. "No, there's no point."

"Yes there is!" Lyon shouted weakly as he crawled near them, Erza's group arriving moments later.

Erza, Natsu, Lucy, and Happy gasped as they saw Deliora moving freely as the ice continued to melt and shatter off.

Lyon stood up shakily glaring at Deliora, his mind returning to the past.

* * *

_Lyon had searched throughout much of the country of Brago searching for Ur, hoping to learn Ice-Make Magic and get stronger._

_One day, Lyon had an argument with Ur, about her taking on a second student._

_"Why?! Why did you take on Gray?! Am I not enough for you?! I'll replace your daughter!" Lyon shouted before he paused when Ur slapped him across the face._

_Ur looked at Lyon sternly. "You're wrong, Lyon."_

_"What…?"_

_"Do you truly believe I took you in as a student to replace her?"_

_"You…didn't…?" Lyon asked in confusion._

_Ur shook her head. "No. No one ever could. I took you in because I wanted to educate and help you. I wanted to help you to grow strong as you, not as my replacement child. It's the same with Gray._'

* * *

Remembering those events made Lyon prepared to fight him, but he was knocked to the side by Gray.

"There's no way I'm letting you get us all killed Lyon," Gray snapped. He then prepared to use Iced Shell but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder, causing him to lose strength. He looked behind him and saw Naruto. "Wh-what are you doing…?"

Naruto motioned up to Deliora and raised his hands. "Almighty Push!" A blast of gravitational energy shot from his hands and slammed into Deliora's torso.

Everyone's eyes widened as the blast hit Deliora and shattered its torso, causing the massive beast to crumble into pieces, falling into the water below.

_"_Amazing…so much power…" Lucy exclaimed.

Naruto raised a hand and shook his head. "No, I didn't do it."

"What do you mean?" Gray asked.

"Deliora's body had already been weakened, almost all of its power had already been drained by Ur's Iced Shell. This whole time…she's been stuck in a battle with Deliora."

Gray's eyes widened before Natsu snickered. "Man Gray, your teacher is incredible."

Gray nodded before the last words her heard Ur say entered his mind.

* * *

_"I will seal your darkness."_

* * *

Gray began to tear up as he remembered, but stemmed the flow when Naruto approached him. "What…?" he asked weakly.

"That water…it was the Iced Shell…and you said it was her body, she became it…correct…?" Naruto asked curiously.

Gray nodded befuddled. "Uhm, well, yes…but…hey, what're you doing?!"

Everyone watched in shock as Naruto dipped his hand in the water and then swallowed some of it.

"What's wrong with you?!" Lucy shouted belligerently.

Naruto then put his hands together and placed them on the ground. The water in the area collected and flowed towards him, collecting in a bubble in front of him.

Lucy asked curiously, "What's he doing?"

Gray shook his head. "No idea, but my head feels a little weird."

Naruto then placed his hands over the bubble and it lit up bright red before shrinking and reshaping.

Gray and Lyon's eyes widened when the bubble had turned into a woman of average height with a slim figure along with a larger than average bust, black eyes, and shoulder length dark purple hair and fair skin wearing a tan jacket with a dark brown collar, jeans, a red tank top, and plain blue shoes.

Gray and Lyon's eyes widened and Gray muttered, "Th-that's…Ur…how, how did you recreate her body?! Why did you-?!"

Naruto interrupted Gray by putting up a hand. "Just wait." He then went through a series of hand signs before activating his Rinnegan and shouting, "Rinne Rebirth Jutsu!"

At that moment, a ring of purple fire erupted beside Naruto as a tall, monstrous head with a long, zipped up collar rose out from it. The collar unzipped and the head's jaw opened wide as a burst of green light shot out and enveloped the motionless body before sinking back into the ground.

After a moment, the woman on the ground twitched before slowly sitting up and grabbing her head. "Ohh…I've got such a headache…" She looked around puzzled and then saw Gray and Lyon. Her eyes widened and she immediately shot to her feet. "G-Gray…Lyon…?" She looked at her hands, then her right leg and then looked around. "What's going on…what happened to Deliora?!"

Gray walked up to the woman and asked, "Ur…is it…really you…?"

The woman nodded bewildered. "Yes but…I don't understand how…"

Naruto stood up and stretched his shoulder. "I'm how."

Ur turned to Naruto and asked, "And you are…?"

Naruto smirked and answered, "I'm Naruto Uzumaki. I'm a friend of Gray's."

Ur looked around and sighed. "I have no idea what's going on, I don't even know how much time has passed." She then looked at Lyon and Gray before smiling. "Though seeing what handsome young men you've become it's been a long time."

Lyon frowned and Gray sighed. "Yeah well you should have a talk with Lyon. This idiot tried to unfreeze Deliora to fight him."

Lyon scowled and shouted, "You bastard!"

Ur sighed heavily. "Honestly, I can't say it's all that surprising."

Gray and Lyon looked at her confused.

Ur said with a warm smile, "You were always more ambitious, always jumping to extremes to get what you want. Although…"

Lyon gulped.

Ur smiled and said, "That doesn't mean you're off the hook."

Lyon shivered as did Gray. Gray mumbled, "That smile's never a good thing."

Ur then looked around once more and then noticed the pieces of Deliora floating in the pool nearby. "I would appreciate an explanation though."

Gray smacked Lyon in the back and sent him forward.

Lyon sighed and tightened his fists. "Deliora was here because I transferred the Iced Shell to this island so I could perform the Moon Drip…"

Ur stared at Lyon plainly.

"…So that I could do what you couldn't and surpass you…"

Ur sighed heavily. "I see. That ambition of yours is too much. That was very stupid Lyon. I expected better…"

Lyon frowned in response.

"Did anyone die?"

Lyon looked at her puzzled.

"Did anyone die?"

Gray shook his head. "No, Lyon tried his damnedest but we stopped him."

"We?" Ur asked.

"Our guild," Natsu explained happily.

Ur looked around and saw that the others had the same marks. Ur then looked back at Gray and smiled. "So you found western wizards, Gray?"

Gray nodded abashed. "Well, yeah. We're called Fairy Tail."

Ur smiled happily. "Fairy Tail…that's a nice name." She then looked around and saw Naruto. "So, you're the one who brought me back to life?"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, I'm the one."

Ur nodded in response. "I still don't know how…I honestly can't think how you would go about doing something like that."

Naruto asked, "So then what will you do now?"

Ur put a hand to her chin and then shrugged. "I still need to figure out all of what's going on. Until then I'm rather stuck. But…does this guild of yours have any openings?"

Naruto nodded. "I'm sure room can be made."

Erza then walked up to Naruto, with a very annoyed expression.

Naruto put a hand on his side and asked gruffly, "What?"

"What you just did…" Erza began, "It's something unnatural. Once someone is dead they're supposed to stay that way."

Naruto frowned and argued, "You're really going to say that with the person I just revived standing right here? Are you really that twisted?"

Erza's eyes widened as Naruto walked past her.

"I don't know about you guys but I plan to see this through to the end. And the way I see it there's still quite a bit left to do. Like helping the villagers." Naruto then disappeared into the cavern.

Ur looked at Erza and sighed with a smile. "I don't necessarily think you're completely wrong, but I think it was rather harsh to put down his effort like that." Ur then walked out to the cavern with Gray and the rest of Fairy Tail.

Erza stood stoic as her fist trembled before turning to the cavern to leave.

Up in the tops of the cave, Zalty stood with a look of awe.

* * *

As the group walked out of the cavern, Ur threw her arms over Lyon and Gray's shoulders, the two looking at her puzzled. "It's a shame you know…"

Gray raised an eyebrow. "What is?"

"I'm sure you two lost track of each other for a very long time. And then, when you finally meet up, you're trying to kill each other. That's not the way it should be."

Gray sighed and looked away. "Well it wasn't exactly my choice to be fighting Lyon. He's the one who started this whole mess."

Lyon walked silently.

"Nothing to add, Lyon?" Ur asked.

Lyon shook his head. "No. Because of what he did, because of what Naruto did, everything I did feels pointless now. Deliora's gone and you're alive."

Ur asked with a sarcastic smile, "Oh? That's not a good thing?"

Lyon stammered, "Ah, well, that's uh…not what I meant…"

Ur then stood up straight and said, "Well, now you can challenge me directly instead of involving others. I'd say that's a positive, wouldn't you?"

Lyon looked at her surprised and then sighed in defeat. "Yes…I suppose so…"

Naruto walked towards the head of the group as they returned to the village to report the news to Moka when someone walked up beside him. He turned and noticed Erza. Frowning he asked, "What do you want?"

Erza frowned angrily and then sighed. "That power…is it permanent?"

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"

"The power you used to bring Gray and Lyon's teacher back to life."

Naruto nodded. "Yes. She'll continue aging like normal. If you were asking if it makes her immortal the answer is no."

Erza looked down in thought. "I see…"

"Is there a point to this?"

Erza turned to him and asked annoyed, "You certainly seem angry about something."

Naruto turned to her bitterly. "You were going to have us abandon the people of this village to die at the hands of that monster! You were just going to throw them away like garbage!"

The group stopped and hung back as Erza and Naruto began arguing.

"It was what was best for the guild. You were taking on a quest far above your capabilities, and you were doing it illegally," Erza shot back.

Naruto growled in frustration. "So what?! That's a reason to doom people to die?!"

Erza finally broke and shouted, "It's because as my guild mates I care about you and it's my duty to see that you don't die!"

Naruto stopped and looked at Erza surprised.

Erza sighed heavily and then continued more calmly, "That is the simple truth. You were taking on a quest far greater than what you are qualified for, which put you in great danger. I am an S-Class Wizard, so it is my duty to protect you, even if at times I seem harsh."

Naruto looked off to the side in thought. "I can understand that, wanting to protect the rest of us, but I don't think that abandoning those villagers was the right way to go about it." Sighing, Naruto added, "Well I suppose as it is there's only one thing left to do so let's take care of it then."

Erza nodded in agreement and then turned back to the others. "How long are you just going to stand there?"

They all looked at her annoyed.

Ur then asked Gray, "Is she always this scary?"

Gray sighed and answered, "Yep, pretty much."

Ur chuckled in amusement. "Well, at the very least you've surrounded yourself with interesting friends."

Gray raised an eyebrow and asked, "What's that supposed to mean?"

Ur shook her head. "Nothing."

* * *

The group arrived back at the village shortly thereafter and Natsu and Happy started gloating about having completed the mission.

As their celebrations began Erza walked up to them and shook her head.

Natsu frowned and asked, "What? We beat Deliora, so the mission's done."

Naruto shook his head as well and pointed up. "The old man asked us to destroy the moon, not Deliora."

Natsu twitched an eyebrow as Lucy asked, "But wasn't his mind just being polluted by Deliora's presence?"

Naruto folded his arms in thought. "I don't think that's the case. Did you forget that dome I mentioned? It's still there."

Everyone looked up and noticed the still violet moon.

"So then what do we do?" Lucy asked unsurely.

Naruto thought for a moment and then postulated, "We could try smashing through it. That might change things and should fix whatever's affecting these people."

Lucy then added, "As good an idea as that is, how would we do that?"

Gray turned to Lyon and asked, "Any suggestions?"

Lyon shook his head. "Not a clue. And what's more, my group has been here for the past three years without any of the villagers approaching us. Don't forget, my team and I have been exposed to that light just the same as the villagers, and yet none of us has suffered deformities."

"What about the dog guy?" Naruto asked.

Lyon rebutted instantly and annoyed, "That's something entirely different."

As the others postulated ideas, Gray pulled Lyon aside, Ur coming with them, and Gray said, "Lyon, you should consider joining a guild."

Lyon huffed in derision. "Doing something like that would be completely pointless."

* * *

After discussing for a short time more methods for getting rid of the dome over the island, the group decided to head down to the village itself to rest and were surprised when, rather than the crater that had previously been there, the actual village had been restored to its former state.

Naruto looked down at it as surprised as the others but then realized, '_It was probably that Zalty guy._'

Ryuujin added, **'_Most likely. Though it's rather curious why he would do something like that._'**

Naruto gave a small grunt of agreement as they approached the village and saw the villagers within.

As they entered the village, Erza suddenly began clamoring for everyone's attention.

As she did that, Gray asked, "What could she be up to?"

Naruto shrugged. "Couldn't really say. What goes through her head is a total mystery."

After gathering everyone, Erza pointed into the sky and said, "Destroying the moon will be simple."

Everyone, including the other members of Fairy Tail, gave her a look of disbelief. Naruto folded his arms in thought and wondered, '_Maybe she's figured out about the dome?_'

**'_Knowing her it's entirely possible,_'** Ryuujin added.

Erza walked around the area and began explaining, "Don't you find it odd that the moon is only that violet color here on the island, and why your transformations always leave an effect on your human bodies?"

Naruto raised a hand to speak, however, Erza immediately found and fell into Lucy's trap which had also been reset.

"Kyaa!" Erza screamed as she fell in.

Natsu asked, "Did Erza just…scream like a girl?"

Naruto twitched an eyebrow and folded his arms with a light blush. "Y-yeah…and it was…actually kinda cute…"

Lucy, however, had substantially different thoughts. '_Oh crap, Erza's going to kill me when she gets back out._'

Erza managed to crawl back out and continued walking as though nothing had happened.

However, before she began talking again Naruto waved a hand towards her.

Raising an eyebrow she asked, "What is it, Naruto?"

Naruto explained, "Gray and I discovered there's a dome of energy floating over the island."

Lyon looked at him surprised and then turned to Gray. "Is that true?"

Gray nodded. "Yes, it is."

Naruto then walked up to Erza and asked quietly, "Are there nonhuman beings living here?"

Erza looked at him puzzled and then looked at the villagers. "Figured it out, have you?"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah. I was curious and looked at the villagers with Sharingan, their chakra is vastly different from that of the rest of us."

Erza nodded. "I figured that out as well. Rather than mutating the villagers, it is distorting their memories. It is made them think that they are human."

Naruto nodded and then asked, "So if we smash it they'll remember?"

Erza nodded in agreement, "They should at least."

Naruto sighed and then inquired, "So then how would you suggest doing it?"

Erza nodded before her body was enveloped in a bright light. When the light died down, Erza was wearing armor with a barbaric appearance that was mostly gold in color with blue stripes over many of the pieces, matching animal-like ears on her head, massive shoulder pauldrons, an oversized right arm with a round, red gem on the wrist, and fur throughout the armor itself along with a large, extravagant, golden lance with red and blue adornments.

The villagers and wizards looked at her curiously.

Lucy asked concerned, "Uhm, Erza, what exactly are you going to do with that?"

Erza smirked and responded, "Destroy the moon."

Lucy looked at her in disbelief.

Erza turned to Naruto and asked, "Would you help me with this?"

Naruto sighed in annoyance and shrugged. "Fine."

Erza turned and looked up towards the moon overhead, pulling the lance back into throwing position, glancing at Naruto and saying, "When I throw it, give it a boost with Almighty Push."

Naruto nodded in understanding as Erza reared back and then threw the lance with force. Naruto aimed his hands at it and shouted, "Almighty Push!"

The lance gained a massive boost in speed and began rocketing upwards, soon colliding with the dome overhead and exploding in smoke and debris.

The villagers looked up happily before realizing that the moon was still in the sky, albeit returned to its natural pallor.

Moka turned to Erza angrily and demanded, "Is this some kind of joke?! You were supposed to destroy the moon, you've done nothing!"

Erza dispelled her armor as she put up a hand. "Give it a moment."

After a few seconds all of the villagers started to get progressively confused expressions on their faces, including the village chief who eventually shook his head and sighed. "How embarrassing."

"So, do you remember now?" Erza asked.

Moka nodded. "Yes. It seems that dome you destroyed had been messing with our memories, making us believe we were humans with disfigurements. The opposite is true."

Lucy looked around puzzled. "Uhm, guys, what's he talking about…?"

Erza explained, "That dome made the villagers believe they're humans turned into monsters. They're actually demons whose memories have been altered."

Lucy blinked curiously and then gulped. "D-did you say…demons…?"

Naruto twitched an eyebrow. "I knew they were nonhuman…but I didn't expect anything like that…"

Moka then added, "That also explains why we could never approach the temple. Such a holy place repels our kind."

At that moment the man who had brought Naruto's team to the island to begin with descended from the sky, shouting happily, "Father!"

Moka looked up in shock and then spread his own wings and flew up. "Bobo!"

The two hugged in midair before descending.

The group that he had ferried looked at him shocked.

Natsu shouted, "I thought you were dead!"

Bobo laughed heartily and explained, "No, I had simply made enough trips back and forth for fishing that the effects of that thing stopped working on me. As a result I stayed away from the island to get help for everyone else." Bobo then laughed loudly again and said, "But forget all that stuff, we're all back to normal!" Spreading his wings, Bobo took off to the sky with his father, all of the other demons spreading their wings and ascending as well.

Lucy smiled and mentioned, "You know, seeing them all dance in the air like that…they almost seem like angels."

Naruto got chills down his spine.

Lucy asked, "You alright Naruto?"

Naruto gulped and said with a sigh, "I just get the feeling this is going to bite me later."

Ryuujin remarked, **'_You never know, it could turn out for the better._'**

Scratching his head Naruto muttered, '_I'd rather not think about it right now._'

**'_Whatever you say._'**

As the demons landed back on the ground, Bobo suggested, "You know what, for all your help, let's have a feast!"

Natsu and Happy cheered in agreement as Naruto grinned.

"I'm up for a bunch of food," Naruto said happily.

* * *

A short time later an incredibly long table was set out with large quantities of various foods setup along it.

Naruto grinned as he sat down to begin eating his fill.

Ryuujin commented curiously, **'_What are you getting so excited about? You're a living Philosopher's Stone, your body has no need of solid food._'**

Naruto responded, '_Yeah, I know. But it still tastes good. And that's all that matters._'

Ryuujin remained silent for a moment. **'_How perplexing._'**

As Naruto began eating he noticed someone standing beside him and saw a demon girl with light blue skin, short, dark blue hair, large prominent teeth, sharp eyes, pointed ears, and a pointed chin with scales on her abdomen wearing an orange bra and green skirt.

Naruto swallowed his food before asking, "Uhm…yes."

The girl said, "Well, I was just wondering, I never got your name."

Naruto blinked in curiosity.

The girl raised an eyebrow as her body flashed with light, her demonic form being replaced by that of a human girl with fair skin and big, onyx eyes. "You probably recognize me better like this."

Naruto raised his eyebrows in recognition.

The girl bowed and added, "My name is Lulu."

Naruto nodded and answered, "My name's Naruto Uzumaki. So…what did you need?"

Lulu nodded and said, "I just wanted to thank you for helping all of us."

Naruto shrugged with a grin. "Don't worry about it. Helping people is what I try to always do. Though I will admit finding out you were demons was a little jarring."

Lulu laughed in amusement. "I can imagine. It usually is to most people, which is why we have the ability to transform into human forms like we do." Lulu then looked down in thought and asked, "Though…which form do you like best?"

Naruto raised an eyebrow in thought. "Which one's your real form?"

Lulu looked at him curiously. "Well…this one," she paused as she transformed back to her demonic form.

Grinning, Naruto nodded and answered, "Then that one. You shouldn't hide who you are just to make others happy."

Lulu smiled happily before bowing. "Thank you, Mr. Naruto."

Naruto blushed lightly and waved a hand, "Nah, just call me Naruto."

Lulu nodded in agreement.

**'_I see this becoming a habit,_'** Ryuujin mumbled.

* * *

As the festivities commenced, Naruto turned towards the gates of the village as Sherry and Yuka approached the group, Yuka saying confidently, "We've come for retribution."

Naruto narrowed his eyes as the two approached, flicking a finger, causing the weaponry they had to go flying as Erza approached them with a sword drawn.

Yuka and Sherry willingly got to their knees as Yuka explained sadly, "We've come for punishment."

Sherry nodded in agreement. "Yes, we feel guilty about what we did to the village. There was no love in that." Naruto walked up towards them as Sherry said, "We were left alone by everyone around us, and Lyon helped us and gave us a purpose, but we never wanted anything like this."

Yuka nodded in agreement.

Naruto sighed heavily and then said, "I know that feeling."

Sherry and Yuka looked up at him confused.

"The worst thing in the world is not feeling like you've got a purpose. I suppose if you guys really are remorseful we could chock this up to the blind leading the blind."

"Hey! I can see just fine dammit!" Lyon shouted.

Sherry smiled and nodded happily as Yuka sighed in relief.

Naruto pointed to the feast and said, "Come on, there should still be enough food left."

* * *

In the trees nearby, Zalty sat on a branch with an annoyed look on his face as his body shimmered with light. As the light died down Ultear stood in his place, a small piece of tissue in her nose. "Hmph, how amusing. That boy really does have a foolishly big heart." She then turned and looked at Ur celebrating with the rest and frowned.

A voice then emanated from the ice sphere next to her. "How intriguing. That Naruto is actually rather resourceful. Not since Zeref has magic of any kind been able to return life to the dead."

Ultear narrowed her eyes in thought. "Hopefully they will not become a nuisance."

* * *

After the festivities died down everyone prepared to head for their own cottages when Naruto felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around and saw Ur behind him. "Oh, your name is…Ur…right…?"

Nodding she said, "Yes. I just wanted to thank you again."

Naruto nodded in agreement. "Don't mention it. Though bringing you back was difficult."

Ur raised an eyebrow and then shook her head. "I didn't mean for that. I meant for befriending Gray."

Naruto raised an eyebrow as he scratched his head. "Well…I haven't been with the guild long and I don't know Gray that well so I wouldn't really say we're friends. But sure, whatever you say."

Ur nodded and then remarked, "He's really not changed since he was little."

Naruto shrugged in response. "I wouldn't really know, Gray hasn't talked much about his past. At least not since I've been here."

Ur nodded in understanding as she motioned to two chairs beside them. After sitting down she asked, "So he didn't tell you the reason he started training with me then?"

Naruto shook his head. "No, he never said a word."

Nodding, Ur looked up in thought. "Well…I don't know how long it's been now since I've been in that ice for a while, but at least before I fought Deliora it was a few years before then that Gray found me."

"Really?" Naruto asked.

Ur nodded. "Yes. He originally lived in the city of Isvan, that is, until Deliora attacked and razed the city to the ground."

* * *

_A young Gray Fullbuster looked up from his activities to see Ur and a young Lyon Vastia approaching. Gray ignored them and returned to what he was doing._

_Ur looked around at the rubble of the town. "How horrible." She then saw Gray nearby, digging graves for the deceased. She and Lyon walked up to Gray and Ur asked, "So, kid, need some help?"_

_Gray looked up at Ur and just continued digging._

_Ur sighed and pointed to a shovel, "Hey, Lyon, start digging."_

_Lyon blinked and asked, "What?! Why me?!"_

_Ur narrowed her eyes and Lyon sighed._

* * *

_ After burying the village's deceased members, numbering all but Gray, Gray looked over two specific graves which were obviously those of his parents. Tightening his fists he swore, "I will never forgive Deliora for this. I'll get revenge."_

_Ur folded her arms and asked, "Oh? And just how do you plan on doing that."_

_Gray twitched an eyebrow. "Well…I…haven't…really thought about that part…yet…"_

_Smirking, Ur offered, "Learning how to use some magic first might not be a bad idea."_

_Gray looked up at Ur and asked, "Are you offering to teach me?"_

_Ur responded, "I'm offering you the chance to learn."_

_Gray thought for a moment and then nodded._

_Ur nodded in return and the group, now made of three members, headed out._

* * *

_ Once they reached a high point in the snowy mountains, Ur explained to Gray, "I hope you're ready, my training's harsh."_

_Gray nodded assuredly. "Don't worry, I'm ready." He then widened his eyes as his face turned red. "Wh-wh-what are you doing?!"_

_Ur, who had stripped from her red shirt, beige coat, and black pants down a simple green bra and matching panties, looked at Gray with a smirk. "Training has begun now."_

_Gray looked from Ur to Lyon in disbelief, the white-haired child himself being in his boxers. "You people are crazy!"_

_Ur explained, "If you want to control the cold, you must first become one with it."_

_Gray gulped and reluctantly stripped to his own boxers as their training began._

_Nodding in satisfaction, Ur continued, "Good. Now for the basics, first is familiarizing yourself with the cold, then we move on to the magical practice that comes later."_

* * *

_ As their training proceeded for a long period of time, Ur made mention of several basic rules of her magic, Ice-Make, the most important of which was, "Creation magic is the magic that allows the most freedom. So everyone, in order to be their strongest, must find their own form."_

* * *

_ After training for some time, Ur decided to bring Gray and Lyon to the market with her to buy food._

_As she bought a selection of goods, the shopkeeper mentioned to her, "Another student, hm?"_

_Ur nodded in agreement. "Yes, I need to pass my Ice-Make Magic on to the next generation."_

_The man nodded in thoughtful agreement but added, "Just don't forget about your own happiness from time to time."_

_As Ur continued shopping, Lyon asked, "Gray, your dream is to defeat Deliora, right?"_

_Gray looked at him puzzled and nodded. "Of course. What about you?"_

_Lyon looked at Ur intently and said, "My dream is to beat Ur."_

_Gray raised an eyebrow. "Really? Whether I can beat her or not doesn't really seem to matter if you ask me."_

_Lyon huffed in derision and then added, "Do you know why Ur took you under her wing with me? She saw that you were wrapped in darkness. At least…that's what she told me."_

_Gray tightened his fist and responded, "She doesn't need to worry about me. I'll drive away the darkness myself by defeating Deliora. Once I've got enough power I'll leave the Ice-Queen." Gray suddenly fell over as Ur punched him on the head._

_"I'd watch it with those metaphors kid, next time it might not just be a punch," Ur warned with a smile._

_Gray nodded as he held his throbbing head._

* * *

_ As the trio walked towards the outskirts of the city, Gray asked Ur, "When will I learn some powerful magic?"_

_Magic it can be as strong as you want."_

_"Whatever you say," Gray dismissed as he unconsciously stripped._

_"Hey! What do you think you're doing in public!?" Ur scolded._

_"Look what you made me do!" Gray blamed._

* * *

_ On the way back to their shared cottage, Gray overheard a group of travelers talking about Deliora._

_"Did you hear about that demon?" the first asked._

_"Yeah, it's tearing through the countryside," answered the second._

_"I know. And what's more, I heard it's nearby."_

_That caused Gray's senses to tingle. '_If it's nearby then…I can fight it and kill it…_' he thought._

* * *

_ That night, Gray was preparing a pack of items._

_Lyon walked over to him and asked curiously, "What's all that stuff?"_

_Putting the pack on his back, Gray explained, "I'm going. To fight Deliora."_

_Ur widened her eyes and shouted, "That's insane! You'll only get killed out there!"_

_Gray turned to them with a determined expression. "You won't stop me."_

* * *

In the present, Naruto sat listening intently to Ur's tale. "So did he go?" Naruto asked.

Ur nodded sadly. "Yep, he went to fight Deliora. As both Lyon and I predicted, he was no match for the demon, and eventually I showed up and was able to fight Deliora for a bit, at least long enough for Gray to get to safety." As Ur said that she unconsciously rubbed her right leg.

Naruto raised an eyebrow as she continued.

* * *

_In a nearby town, Deliora roared as it slid back from an attack._

_Gray and Lyon were already unconscious from the course of the battle._

_Gray managed to wake up some and looked to see Ur in front of him. He grit his teeth with anger._

_Ur turned towards him with a warm smile. "Good, you're awake."_

_Gray looked down and his eyes widened in shock, from the knee down Ur's right leg was gone, replaced by a false replacement of ice._

_Ur smiled and said, "Don't worry. I just lost it in the fight. This will do for now. Gray, I need you to take Lyon and run. Fighting Deliora while protecting the both of you simultaneously is difficult."_

_Gray then asked perplexed, "Why? Why did you come back for me?"_

_Ur thought for a moment then said, "Well…I was supposed to be searching for happiness but really…I'm not all that unhappy. And besides, seeing my pupils grow is all the happiness I need." She then added, "Gray, if Deliora is the one causing all of your darkness, then that's even more of a reason for me to fight it."_

_"No, Ur, don't!" Gray shouted frantically._

_"I will take my happiness back by doing this, okay?"_

_Lyon woke up at that moment and saw Ur standing nearby, realizing what she was about to do, and shouted, "You can't! What about my dream?!"_

_Ur nodded and rebutted, "There are many wizards far stronger than I am to the west. So go there, and fight them."_

_Lyon grit his teeth in anger, demanding, "Don't lose!" Losing his own patience he then rushed forward, putting his hands in the formation for Iced Shell, running ahead as the spell charged, only to get frozen in place by Ur._

_Ur took in a breath and crossed her arms in front of her, preparing to use Iced Shell._

_Tearfully, Gray shouted, "No, Ur, don't do this!"_

_Ur turned to look at Gray with a smile as she said, "Gray, I'll seal your darkness."_

_Gray's eyes widened as the tears fell from his eyes stronger._

_Ur then added as her body turned to ice, "Gray, after I've finished, tell Lyon that I am dead. I want you both to walk into your own future, but for Lyon, this will be impossible for as long as I am alive." Ur's body then dissipated, turning into the ice that formed a massive prison around Deliora._

_Lyon's own ice prison broke and he fell to the ground, seeing the frozen Deliora ahead of him._

_Gray explained, "It's Ur. She…she died to seal Deliora."_

_Lyon's eyes widened insanely as he got up and slammed his fist into Gray's face. "You…it's your fault she's dead!"_

* * *

After Ur finished telling everything to Naruto, the blonde sat there silently for a few seconds. Ur then asked, "So, do you think I made the right choice, or do you think what I did was stupid?"

Naruto shook his head. "I don't think what you did was stupid at all. Actually, I know sort of what it's like on Gray's end."

Ur raised an eyebrow in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Well…my parents gave their lives defending me against a similar monster to that Deliora demon. Although admittedly I didn't find this out for a long time."

Ryuujin coughed and said, **'_Ahem, I take offence to that. Unlike me that creature was just a wild beast._'**

'_And you aren't? Do you even realize how hard it was to fight you when you were rampaging around like that?_'

**'_…Sh-shut up…_'**

Naruto smirked victoriously.

Ur asked, "Uhm…are you okay?"

Naruto looked at her curiously and nodded. "Yeah, just…don't ask."

"Right…it's probably better that I don't." Ur then got up and stretched.

Naruto looked away as her stretch put her physique on full display.

Ur caught notice of this and bent over to look at him, getting uncomfortably close to his face.

Naruto's face turned red as she got close to him. "Y-yes…?"

Ur merely smiled in amusement before standing up straight. "For all that power you've got, you're amusingly shy."

"I-I am not!" Naruto argued weakly.

Ur only snickered in amusement as she went to a cottage. "Good night, Naruto."

Naruto nodded in agreement as he sighed heavily. He then turned around as he noticed someone move from behind the corner of a nearby house.

Naruto walked over to the corner and didn't see anyone, though he did see boot prints in the sand at that spot. Blinking curiously he mumbled, "I wonder who it was…"

**'_Maybe you don't want to know,_'** Ryuujin commented.

Sighing, Naruto replied, '_Probably not._'

* * *

The next day, as the team was preparing to leave, Lucy examined a scar Gray had received on his forehead and remarked, "Yeah…that's probably permanent."

Gray thought about it for a moment and shrugged. "I don't know, I actually kind of like it."

As the rest were preparing to leave, Erza and Naruto spoke with the villagers.

Erza said to Moka, "As this was an unofficial quest, we cannot accept the money for the reward. However, as a sign of our friendship we'll accept the Gate Key."

Erza handed the key to Lucy who jumped with glee, though Natsu, Gray, and Naruto groaned in annoyance.

As they prepared to leave, Naruto noticed Ur nearby and asked, "So, what will you do from here?"

Ur thought for a moment and then said, "Well, if you don't mind, I'd like to come along."

Naruto nodded in acceptance and then glanced at Erza, who also nodded in agreement. "It's settle then." Naruto outstretched his hand and helped Ur up onto the boat Erza had procured, though when asked how she dodged the question, to take them back to the mainland.

As the ship departed, the villagers all beckoned the team to return some time.

* * *

On a rocky outcropping nearby, Lyon asked Sherry, "Tell me…do you think it would be fun in a guild…?"

* * *

Back at the Magic Council building, Era, Ultear walked through the double doors into Siegrain's office.

The blue-haired man then asked curiously, "So, what do you think about what you saw on that island, Ultear?"

Ultear responded, "Most interesting. Naruto in particular seems to hold quite a high range of skills. After all, he was able to bring that woman back to life."

Siegrain smirked and chided lightly, "Now, now, that's no way to speak about your mother, Ultear."

"I couldn't care less. Though having her powerful magic back in the world could make things very interesting, or very frustrating."

"True, she was considered for a position among the Ten Wizard Saints before she passed away…the first time that is."

Ultear nodded in agreement. "Though I am more interested in Naruto at the moment than her, it seems he has many tricks he is hiding."

Siegrain nodded in agreement. "It seems so. Though I wonder what those abilities are."

* * *

As the Fairy Tail team returned to Magnolia, the four moaned about the lack of reward money.

"Man, I still haven't earned a ryo yet," Naruto moaned.

"I don't even know what that means…but I don't care…" Gray added.

Erza then warned, "I wouldn't start worrying about such trivial things. After all, there is still a punishment to be carried out."

Gray, Natsu, and Happy then froze.

Natsu mumbled frightened, "Oh no…not _that_…"

Happy began blubbering incoherently as Gray just mumbled to himself while Natsu attempted to get a way.

Ur looked around and then asked Naruto, "What is she talking about?"

Naruto laughed weakly. "Ah…well…we…weren't exactly cleared to take this quest…"

Ur just sighed heavily. "Somehow…it doesn't surprise me Gray got wrapped up in all this…"

As Natsu attempted to escape, Erza grabbed him, Gray, Naruto, Lucy, and Happy and dragged them along behind her towards some nebulous impending doom, while Ur walked alongside them.

"Would someone explain what _that_ is?!" Lucy demanded.

* * *

As the group entered the guild hall, Erza looked around and then saw Mirajane and asked, "Mira, is Master here?"

Mirajane shook her head in response. "No, he's out on business right now."

Erza dropped the group and folded her arms in frustration. "I see. That is rather disappointing, it means he is not here to dole out their punishment."

Gray, Natsu, and Happy sighed in relief, Lucy again demanding, "What is the big deal?!"

Mirajane turned when she noticed Ur alongside the group. Smiling she asked, "Oh, and who might you be?"

Nodding, she answered, "The name's Ur Milkovich."

Mirajane's eyes widened. "You can't be telling the truth."

Ur laughed uncomfortably. "Yeah…it's a long story but," Ur paused and pulled Naruto close, his head ending up pressed against the side of her breasts, getting the blonde's complexion to redden greatly, and said, "this spike-head here is responsible."

Mirajane looked at Naruto surprised. "Is that really true?"

Naruto nodded before Ur dropped him, causing him to slam against the floor hard. Picking himself up against the bar he sighed and said, "Erm, yeah, it is true. Just…don't ask for the specifics…it's kinda complicated."

Mirajane looked at Naruto thoughtfully but then shook her head, turning to Ur and asking, "Well, I suppose you have a reason for being here?"

Ur nodded and said, "Yeah, I was kind of hoping to join. After all, I've been…on ice, so to speak, for a few years so I'd like to get back into the swing of things."

Naruto leaned over and commented, "That joke sucked."

Ur knocked him atop the head to silence him. "So, what does it take to join?"

Mirajane smiled and explained, "The ability to use magic and a desire to work hard."

Nodding, Ur answered, "I'm pretty sure I've got one of those and I'm certain I have the other."

Mirajane nodded in agreement. "Good. You'll have to wait until Master Makarov, the guildmaster, gets back but I don't think he'll have any problem accepting you."

Ur nodded happily. "Sounds good."

Naruto stretched his neck as a thought suddenly hit him. "Hey, Ur."

Ur turned to him curiously. "Yeah, what's up?"

"You said your last name is Milkovich, right?"

Ur raised an eyebrow and folded her arms. "It is. Why are you so curious?"

Naruto thought for a few moments and then explained, "Well…I met someone recently with the same last name."

Ur looked at him curiously. "Is that so?"

Naruto noticed the lack of playfulness in his voice and decided to get to the point. "Her name was Ultear Milkovich."

Ur's eyes suddenly shot wide as she grabbed Naruto by the shoulders. "What did you say?"

"Uh, I, I said, Ultear. Ultear Milkovich," Naruto answered concerned at Ur's sudden personality shift. '_I think this was a bad idea._'

**'_You could always wipe her memory,_'** Ryuujin explained plainly.

'_Hey, the easy way out isn't always the best. I dug this hole, I might as well deal with it._'

**'_You humans and your sense of duty. I've never met a problem that couldn't be solved one of two ways. The first way is to just break it._'**

Naruto asked apprehensively, '_…And the second…?_'

**'_…That's…more personal…_'**

Naruto just sighed and asked Ur, "Is that…someone you know…?"

Ur sighed heavily as she sat down to absorb the information Naruto just gave her. After a moment she nodded in the affirmative.

"Who?" Naruto asked as he sat down.

"The name of my daughter. But…she's dead…"

* * *

**Well that is that, hopefully you guys enjoyed it. With there being a few more reviews that were not just nonsensical bile I am considering bringing reviewer responses back for good but we will have to see if there is less uselessness this time or not. This will also be the last chapter of this story for a while as I will be working on other projects. Once those ease up I will come back to this story.  
**

**Anyway, what did you think, Ultear?**

**"..."**

**Uhm...Ultear?**

**"How embarrassing."**

**Uhm...why?**

**"He beat me with a jutsu designed to take down men."**

**Is that...really his fault?**

**"You should be quiet."**

**Eheheh...okay...how about the rest of the chapter?**

**"...He revived my mother. Fufu, that Naruto."  
**

**Where are you going?**

**"To thank him."**

**By thank him you mean...?**

**"Naturally."**

**...Lucky bastard.**

**Anyway, as I promised here is the excerpt from Dragon of Zero:**

After a while Colbert looked around and asked, "So, has everyone summoned their familiars? If so then we will-"

Kirche interrupted and said, "Mr. Colbert, not all of us. There's still one person who hasn't."

The students parted to show Louise standing by herself. She began sweating heavily and waved a hand. "Eheheh…I'm good…"

Colbert frowned in response. "Summoning a familiar is an important part of being a mage, you must."

Louise gulped before Kirche continued taunting her.

"What's wrong? What about that super special familiar you were going to summon?"

Louise clenched her fists and then moaned. "Fine! Just you watch! I'll summon the best familiar ever!" She walked up and began an unorthodox chant. "My servant that exists somewhere in this vast universe!"

The other students started laughing mockingly at her.

Kirche put a hand to her chin and snickered. "That's quite an original chant."

Louise twitched an eyebrow with a tic mark on her forehead. "My divine, wise, beautiful servant, heed my call! I wish from the bottom of my heart, appear before for me!" There was a slight delay before a massive explosion erupted from her wand.

All of the students began coughing heavily as smoke and dust filled the air.

Kirche sneered, "Wonderful, now there's dust in my hair."

Tabitha blinked and then looked up before she dropped her book on the ground.

Kirche looked at her in disbelief and then looked up as well, a large bead of sweat falling from her head. "Oh boy…"

Colbert and the other students gasped as they looked at the familiar Louise summoned.

Louise looked around then realized the area was darker than before. She looked up and her eyes widened before she fell backwards.

The creature Louise had summoned was a three story tall, humanoid, bipedal dragon with blood red scales, though the insides of its arms, hands, and legs, the underside of its head and tail, and the front of its neck and chest with a long tail extending from the base of its spine, a long, reptilian head with four large horns pointing back on a short, straight neck, five clawed fingers on each hand, fiver clawed toes on each foot, a wide wingspan with each wing resembling an elongated hand, with a piece sticking up like a thumb, spiked spines going down its back, on its elbow, and on its knees, it also had slitted, deep red eyes. The dragon growled gutturally before looking down at the ground and seeing Louise below it.

Louise looked up at the massive beast with awe and terror.

**There it is, so if you could, check out the story and tell me what you think.**


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